Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day celebrates Elsworth W. Bunce’s cow, Elm Farm
Ollie, the first cow to be flown and milked in an airplane. On February
18, 1930, a Guernsey cow named Nellie Jay, sometimes known as Elm Farm
Ollie, was flown from Bismarck, Missouri, on a Ford Trimotor plane to the International Aviation Exhibition in St. Louis as part of a scientific effort to
study whether heights affect cows’ ability to produce milk.
Ollie was known as a
high milk-producing cow and was chosen entirely because of her calm nature.
Proceeding the milking process on the
72-mile flight over Missouri, milk cartons (made of
paper) on parachutes were let down to spectators to create publicity. Also, the trip was meant to show the ability of the new Ford Trimotor aircraft that had only just begun shipping after its production began in 1925. According to historians, the purpose of the trip was to prove to farmers that farm animals can be flown from one place to another and be milked en route.
"hey wanna know what day it is? its "Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day". the day when some
people milked a cow in mid air for some reason and dropped the milk onto random
people on the ground. how is this celebrated every year? no
fucking clue."
