An improved cooling design and method for cooling airfoils within a gas turbine engine is provided includes a plenum (80) longitudinally located within the leading edge (46) of the airfoils. Within the plenum (80) are positioned a plurality of turbulence promoters (86) to provide enhanced heat transfer within the leading edge. Also, the cooling design includes a plurality of inlets (72,76) to receive cooling air from an internal cavity (36) of the airfoil as well as a plurality of outlets (64,66) located within a trench (52) on the exterior surface of the leading edge (46) through which the cooling air exits to film cool the leading edge.