The freestream is the
air far upstream of an
aerodynamic
Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...
body, that is, before the body has a chance to deflect, slow down or compress the air. Freestream conditions are usually denoted with a
symbol, e.g.
, meaning the freestream velocity.
References
*Anderson, John D., 1989. ''Introduction to Flight'', 3rd Ed. McGraw-Hill
Aerodynamics
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