Effect of rotation on detailed film cooling effectiveness distributions in the leading edge region of a gas turbine blade with three shower-head rows of radial-angle holes were measured using the Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) technique. Tests were conducted on the first-stage rotor blade of a three-stage axial turbine at three rotational speeds. The effect of the blowing ratio was also studied. The Reynolds number based on the axial chord length and the exit velocity was 200,000 and the total to exit pressure ratio was 1.12 for the first-stage rotor blade. The corresponding rotor blade inlet and exit Mach number was 0.1 and 0.3, respectively. The film cooling effectiveness distributions were presented along with the discussions on the influences of rotational speed, blowing ratio, and vortices around the leading edge region. Results showed that different rotation speeds significantly change the film cooling traces with the average film cooling effectiveness in the leading edge region increasing with blowing ratio. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.