Alright, y’all, buckle up—because today, we are talking about the first cow to ever take flight. That’s right, forget about pigs flying—on February 18, 1930, a whole dairy cow got her frequent flyer miles before any of us even knew what an airport was.
Her name? Elm Farm Ollie. But let’s be real, if you’re letting a cow ride shotgun on an airplane, she deserves a name with some flair. Let’s call her Aviator Bessie. And listen—Ollie wasn’t just a regular cow. She was a big deal. She was like the Serena Williams of dairy cows. This girl produced so much milk, she made other cows look lazy. So naturally, when scientists and aviators wanted to see what would happen if you put a cow in a plane, they picked her.
Now, imagine this scene: 1930s Missouri, and they decide, “You know what’s missing from the aviation industry? Livestock.” They load up this 1,000-pound queen onto a Ford Trimotor plane—‘cause back then, science was just throwing ideas at the sky to see what would stick. And let me tell you, they didn’t just fly this cow for the fun of it. Oh no, mid-flight, they had a farmer—yes, a whole farmer—milking her while she’s up there soaring over the countryside.
Now, I have so many questions. Like, who even volunteers for that job? You’re out here milking a cow at 5,000 feet? Sir, did you lose a bet? Did nobody tell you what turbulence is?!
And get this—the milk? They bottled it, strapped some parachutes on it, and threw it out of the plane like it was the first-ever DoorDash delivery. I guess the people of Missouri were just out in the fields catching falling bottles of cow juice like, “Well, I guess lunch is served!” And legend has it—now, I don’t know if this is true or just some extra-fancy farmer propaganda—but Charles Lindbergh himself, the man who flew across the Atlantic, drank some of Elm Farm Ollie’s sky milk. Can you imagine? You’re a whole aviation pioneer, and your legacy includes sipping airborne dairy?
This wasn’t just some weird stunt, though. Oh no—these folks really thought they were paving the way for livestock air travel. “Today? One cow. Tomorrow? A whole herd on a 747!” Spoiler alert: that did not happen. But you gotta respect the hustle.
And look, Elm Farm Ollie didn’t just fade into history. She became a legend. Wisconsin—because of course Wisconsin—still celebrates Elm Farm Ollie Day every year on February 18. They got songs, they got tributes—there’s even a whole Bovine Cantata in B-Flat Major. ‘Cause you know, when a cow does one historical thing, she obviously deserves her own musical number.
So what’s the moral of the story? Shoot your shot. Think big. Dream bigger. Because if a cow can fly, get milked at 5,000 feet, and have people singing about it almost a hundred years later? Then honey, you can do anything.
