House flies approach vertical walls at 0.1–0.55 m/s before landing.

High-speed camera experiments reveal that landing is a carefully controlled manoeuvre, not a simple crash. Researchers filmed house flies at up to 3,000 frames per second and found that many decelerated before touching a vertical wall, while others extended their legs without clear deceleration. The flies were managing speed, distance and leg position in the final moments before contact.