Starting vortex

The starting vortex is a vortex which forms in the air adjacent to the trailing edge of an airfoil as it is accelerated from rest in a fluid. It leaves the airfoil (which now has an equal but opposite "bound vortex" around it), and remains (nearly) stationary in the flow. It rapidly decays through the action of viscosity. The initial (and quite brief) presence of a starting vortex as an airfoil begins to move was predicted by early aerodynamicists, and eventually photographed.

Starting vortex

The starting vortex is a vortex which forms in the air adjacent to the trailing edge of an airfoil as it is accelerated from rest in a fluid. It leaves the airfoil (which now has an equal but opposite "bound vortex" around it), and remains (nearly) stationary in the flow. It rapidly decays through the action of viscosity. The initial (and quite brief) presence of a starting vortex as an airfoil begins to move was predicted by early aerodynamicists, and eventually photographed.