What the hell....? 20 years ago in Fiji - and that is the same Latitude as Innisfail - well and truly in the Tropics, - we used to start the right engine with the prop braked and cool the cabin for 5 minutes before calling for boarding. The cabin and the girls and the tech crew were cool to receive the passengers, and the passengers were cool too when they sat down, whether in Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, or Tonga. What is so special about New Guinea..? On the ground, and on descent into Nausori or Nadi we would get fogging from the airconditioning due to the moisture in the humid air as the airconditioning system from the engine system proved just how efficient it was working in the local environment.
( Just had to warn the Nervous Nellies that it wasn't smoke, tasol)
At altitude, they used to ask what the knocking on the fuse ice shields was as the props shed ice when going through a buildup with big droplets.
But the cabin was warm then..
p.s. And if you wanted to save fuel, to make up for the 5 minutes, it was alright to release the prop brake, push back or reverse taxi on one, and start the other on the way to the holding point for the active..
That's how it was designed.... back then.
Last edited by frigatebird; 18th Jun 2010 at 11:23.