Abstract. This paper considers the numerical simulation of incompressible viscous fluid flow in an infinite strip. A mixed spectral method is proposed using the Legendre approximation in one direction and the Legendre rational approximation in another direction. Numerical results demonstrate the efficiency of this approach. Some results on the mixed Legendre-Legendre rational approximation are established, from which the stability and convergence of proposed method follow.Mathematical subject classification: 65M70, 35Q30, 41A10, 41A20.