[Normy]

I fly a Boeing 727. Below 10 degrees C/ 50F, we are required to open the engine anti-ice, which pumps hot air from the compressor sections of the engines into the the round intake which prevents ice.

-Why?

Turbine engines are VERY sensitive to air flow. This engine works the same as the Otto cycle on the motor that drives my 928. If a small ridge of ice manages to exist on a significant section of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15, the resultant "squirrely" airflow could lead to what is known as a compressor stall.

-This is why turbine engines are NOT in the hands of the average person. These things are SENSITIVE! They burn up in seconds; You cannot talk on the phone and run a turbine- You WILL eventually fry the thing!

I fly Boeing 727's for a small cargo company out of Memphis, Tennessee, and I don't know why anyone would take off in a modern transport category jet airplane without the wings and tail being de-iced.

In any case, when I open the engine anti-ice, i'm pumping 700 degree air inside the front edge of the cowling; I sometimes have to ask my captain to open up the engine heat. This stuff is important! A small ridge of ice on a JT8D-17 intake can TOTALLY screw up the engine! it will start coughing and belching.

N!