We present a comparison between a plasma-generated 'starting jet' experimen
t and an axisymmetric numerical simulation of the flow. The experimental fl
ow and the numerical simulation give results that agree both qualitatively
and quantitatively, showing that the complex vortical structures arising in
the flow are surprisingly well reproduced by the numerical model. This res
ult inspires confidence in the accuracy of astrophysical jet numerical simu
lations. Also, even though the Mach number of our laboratory jet is somewha
t low (M similar to 0.5), the dimensionless parameters of this jet are not
very far from those expected for Faranoff-Riley class I radio jets.