Half Roll or Half Loop?

[Glasair34me]

I couldn?t resist. After reading Martin?s post about the paint gun, I had to ask you all a question. When a fly lands on the ceiling, does he do a half roll or a half loop? I can?t wait to hear what you think!

[fred]

it all depends on which maneuver he/she uses to land on the ceiling.

[szicree]

I've actually seen high speed footage of this very thing, but I can't remeber which way he did it. I do recall that he planted one foot against the ceiling and pivotted on it. I'll bet the video is on the web somewhere.

[dan]

If you believe everything you read on the internet, then here's an answer...

A) Neither. For a long time, people believed that the common housefly, Musca domestica, performed a stunt pilot's half-barrel roll when approaching the ceiling. But in 1958, freeze-frame photography revealed that something else was going on. As Caltech insect physiologist Michael Dickinson explains, first the bug-eyed fella flies right side up at a low angle and in a direct line toward the upper deck. Just prior to impact, it instinctively extends its forelegs over its head and grabs the ceiling, using hooks or sticky pads at the ends of its legs. With the fly's front feet firmly grounded, momentum swings the lower half of its body up, like a trapeze artist. Spider-Man's got nothing on Superfly.

From http://outside.away.com/outside/feat.../wildfile.html

[Jekyll]

I thought it was more akin to a Lomchevak (sp) than a loop or roll.

Jekyll