Poll

How about a flying fly in your room and you punch that fly unreasably hard. Could you kill it?

Yes
10 (47.6%)
No
11 (52.4%)

Total Members Voted: 21

Voting closed: September 05, 2023, 05:51:41 pm

Author Topic: Kill a fly in mid-air?  (Read 6748 times)

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Offline ZeynebTopic starter

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Kill a fly in mid-air?
« on: August 29, 2023, 05:51:41 pm »
So you have just air behind that fly. You cannot smash the fly against something.
Would an human "fly-killing" athlete be able to do so?
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Offline Siwastaja

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2023, 06:39:13 pm »
You can see the answer for yourself when washing your car windshield and headlights. For the exact speed it happens at, hard to say. Maybe 40-50 km/h and up?
 
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Offline Bud

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2023, 06:52:19 pm »
You smash the fly against your palm, i did it many times, they drop on the floor with damaged body/wings. May not be exactly dead though.
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Online jpanhalt

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2023, 06:55:32 pm »
Just grab them out of the air with your hand.  Some are easier than others.  As Muhammad Ali said, "Catching flies is better than training them."
 

Offline Nominal Animal

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2023, 06:58:53 pm »
I know one can slap/swat, one-handed in mid-air, a fly dead: I've done it.  I don't know if it died when it hit my hand/fingers, or when it hit the ground, but it was alive before and dead after.  It was a large-ish fly, though, body maybe 6mm or quarter inch in length.  I don't ever recall the same happening with much smaller fly-like bloodsuckers like mosquitoes (culicadae), black flies (simuliidae), and no-see-ums (ceratopogonidae), which I grew up swatting in the hundreds or thousands each summer (North of the Arctic circle); one needs to either slap them against something, or grasp them and crush between fingers, or they'll just continue flying.

But punch, with ones fist, fingers curled?  Guinness' record for the fastest punch was apparently clocked (pun intended) at 45 MPH, so I do believe it is possible for the larger fly variants, but not the smallest ones like fruit flies.
 
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Offline floobydust

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2023, 07:24:48 pm »
What college was that where they used freeze spray to knock out houseflies, then they krazy glued them to balsa wood/popsicle sticks to make fly-powered airplanes?  :-DD
 

Online jpanhalt

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2023, 07:31:47 pm »
Not college but YT example:
 
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Offline Rick Law

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2023, 09:53:38 pm »
So you have just air behind that fly. You cannot smash the fly against something.
Would an human "fly-killing" athlete be able to do so?

Of course you can smash the fly against something.  There are two ways to do it:

(1) Hand catching a landed fly is not hard.  You merely have to slowly move your hand into position (not on top but a few inches to the side of the fly) and then with one quick move you can have it in your hand.  Aim point is about 1 inch above the landed fly.  It tries to take off when it sees your hand starting the quick approach, but your hand got there when it managed just to get into the air.  Works for me 80%-90% of the time.  With it in hand, you can throw it hard to smash it against the ground.  Typically the fly is intact but immobilized for a moment by the collision.   You can pick it up (I usually use a flip-top sandwich bag) and dispose of it.  Nice, easy, and no smear of fly parts on the wall or table.  That is how I usually catches the fly that got into the house.

(2) If it doesn't land or only lands at unreachable locations , I prefer to hit them in the air mid-flight, also no clean up.  The mid-air collision of the fly against the soft bottom of flip-flop/sandals will make sure the fly have a bad day but (most of the time) remains intact.  You do have to look where your "flip-flop bat" batted it to.  The job usually is done at collision, but at time it may be merely knocked out (ie: it may wake up).  So quick disposal of the fly is the next step.

If neither way works for you, go get a vacuum cleaner.  Approach slow and it will end up literally in the can.  But it you don't have a vacuum cleaner handy...  There's always rubber-bands.  This one will may leave a mess to clean up, but you can shoot the fly at distance of a couple of feet (or more if you are a better rubber-hand shooter than me).  My prefer distance is 9 to 12 inches.  These two ways of sending the fly to it's next life doesn't involve smashing it mid-air.
« Last Edit: August 29, 2023, 09:55:36 pm by Rick Law »
 

Offline .RC.

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2023, 09:56:23 pm »
Don't the world's political and corporate leaders just use their tongue?

 
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Offline Kim Christensen

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2023, 10:06:03 pm »
You can with a snap of the wrist... But it's much more fun with "A Salt" weapon:
 
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Online jpanhalt

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2023, 10:21:32 pm »
Of course you can smash the fly against something.  There are two ways to do it:

(1) Hand catching a landed fly is not hard.  You merely have to slowly move your hand into position (not on top but a few inches to the side of the fly) and then with one quick move you can have it in your hand.  Aim point is about 1 inch above the landed fly.  It tries to take off when it sees your hand starting the quick approach, but your hand got there when it managed just to get into the air.  Works for me 80%-90% of the time.  With it in hand, you can throw it hard to smash it against the ground.  Typically the fly is intact but immobilized for a moment by the collision.   You can pick it up (I usually use a flip-top sandwich bag) and dispose of it.  Nice, easy, and no smear of fly parts on the wall or table.  That is how I usually catches the fly that got into the house.

I find above and behind, and maybe a little to one side, most effective.  Of course, I am referring to Spring and Summer flies.  Winter flies are no challenge.
 

Online Brumby

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #11 on: August 30, 2023, 12:43:09 am »
(1) Hand catching a landed fly is not hard.  You merely have to slowly move your hand into position (not on top but a few inches to the side of the fly) and then with one quick move you can have it in your hand.  Aim point is about 1 inch above the landed fly.  ... ... ...
^^^ This ^^^ !!  Very high success rate!

Quote
(2) If it doesn't land or only lands at unreachable locations , I prefer to hit them in the air mid-flight, ... ... ...
Slap them with something.  I have stunned them with just my hand, but punching won't have enough speed.  If their flying pattern is suitable, I will often try and catch them in flight ... and I do succeed on occasion.  (No, never tried with chopsticks.  ;D )

Quote

If neither way works for you, go get a vacuum cleaner.  Approach slow and it will end up literally in the can.
Opportunities for the vacuum cleaner option is extremely rare - they just aren't patient enough.

Quote
But it you don't have a vacuum cleaner handy...  There's always rubber-bands.  This one will may leave a mess to clean up, but you can shoot the fly at distance of a couple of feet (or more if you are a better rubber-hand shooter than me).  My prefer distance is 9 to 12 inches.  These two ways of sending the fly to it's next life doesn't involve smashing it mid-air.
Never tried that - but rubber bands aren't something I have easily at hand in my place.  (Just don't use them all that often - and when I go looking for them, the ones I find are usually perished.)
« Last Edit: August 30, 2023, 12:49:51 am by Brumby »
 

Offline aeberbach

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #12 on: August 30, 2023, 01:21:30 am »
I killed a wasp mid-air once. It was one of those hot days where the windows are open so the wasps fly in and get angry. This was maths class, and I grabbed the metre-long blackboard ruler in a two-handed grip. "You are an idiot and it will sting you" said the teacher. I took one swing with my wooden katana and there was an audible crack, then the dead wasp hit the floor. Hushed admiration! I had hit peak cool, aged 14.
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Online NiHaoMike

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #13 on: August 30, 2023, 04:22:21 am »
A cheap handheld bug zapper (the kind that looks like a tennis racket) quickly gets rid of them if they're within reach. If they're not in reach, a battery operated 1W blue laser (and laser safety glasses!) quickly damages them when hit, even if they fly off, they don't live long after that.
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Offline DavidAlfa

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #14 on: August 30, 2023, 05:11:44 am »
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Offline Dundarave

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #15 on: August 30, 2023, 05:50:19 am »


These things are the absolute best ever.  Flys, wasps, you name it. Even if they’re on the window: just lay it flat and hit the button.  The dead critter also tends to stay stuck in the open mesh, so it’s simple to walk it outside, give the thing a rap with your hand, and the dead bug gets flicked off.

Highly recommended.
 

Offline Zoli

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #16 on: August 30, 2023, 05:55:07 am »
What college was that where they used freeze spray to knock out houseflies, then they krazy glued them to balsa wood/popsicle sticks to make fly-powered airplanes?  :-DD
It won't fly(pun intended), since the fly has to jump to start flying. I can still catch flies with bare hands; usually, I feed them - to a spider  >:D >:D >:D
 

Offline DavidAlfa

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #17 on: August 30, 2023, 07:04:41 am »
It's a lot more satisfying watching them exploding with a loud Bang! instead catching them with your hands.
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Offline Nominal Animal

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #18 on: August 30, 2023, 07:40:11 am »
Fruit flies and the smaller bloodsucking varieties are too small for the electric swatter to zap them.  They just pass through. >:(
 

Offline paulca

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #19 on: August 30, 2023, 08:44:30 am »
Yesterday I hand clapped a fly.  Unfortunately I managed to catch it directly between the heels of my hand.

Then I have to clean the splat off. 

Sometimes you don't expect to actually catch them and then regret it when you do.
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Offline mengfei

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #20 on: August 30, 2023, 08:57:08 am »
what ever happened to those good'ol flyswatter  :box:
 

Offline Marco

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #21 on: August 30, 2023, 08:57:31 am »
Where are those starwars insect killers we we're promised?
 

Offline Red Squirrel

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #22 on: August 30, 2023, 04:44:21 pm »
Punching would be hard but in theory I can't see why not. I have slapped flies out of the air hard enough for them to die. Hornets too, that's a bit risky but I bank on the fact that if they don't die on first impact they die when they hit the ground. It's kind of comical doing that with others around they think you're some kind of ninja. 

Those electric rackets are fun too. One of these days I want to 18650 swap one to give it a bit of extra power.  >:D
 

Offline Siwastaja

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #23 on: August 30, 2023, 04:54:21 pm »
grasp them and crush between fingers

When it comes to crushing, would you agree these guys are really fun and games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipoptena_cervi . You really have to tear them apart with your fingernails, or crush them between two 9V batteries as they are so tough and... gummy.
 

Offline .RC.

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Re: Kill a fly in mid-air?
« Reply #24 on: August 30, 2023, 09:31:13 pm »
Where are those starwars insect killers we we're promised?

They designed them for stormtroopers to use.   Then thought what is the point if you can not hit anything.
 


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