free flight

American  

noun

1. unassisted or unconstrained flight, as the flight of a rocket or missile without guidance or after fuel exhaustion or motor cutoff.

---

free flight British  

noun

1. the flight of a rocket, missile, etc, when its engine has ceased to produce thrust

---

Etymology

Origin of free flight

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

As well as suiting her needs, the aviary was also designed to give the flock more space and more opportunities for free flight.

From BBC

JetBlue didn’t appear to respond on a woman’s post claiming it had failed to deliver a promised free flight to Italy after her original booking was canceled, even as comments like “ewwww” accumulated.

From The Wall Street Journal

It is not unheard of for Australian politicians to get free flight upgrades though they are required to declare such gifts, according to Reuters.

From BBC

This is the first study relating to the behavior of blood in free flight.

From Science Daily

I crave what Walt Whitman called “free flight into the wordless, / Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done.”

From New York Times