The series of experiments have been performed to study the transient heat transfer in air from a suddenly heated vertical thin wire. A platinum wire has been used as a resistance thermometer as well as a heating element to eliminate the disturbances in the measurements. The measured temperature as a function of time is compared with the calculated transient temperature with the aid of a pure conduction equation. The overshoot phenomena in terms of the Nusselt numbers have been detected and it is reasonable to define the delay time at which the onset of convection heat transfer occurs. The measured data are compared with the existing steady-state data and the agreements are reasonable within the comparable ranges.