Spoilers not deployed

[alvcheng]

A few days ago, I was travelling on a 747-400 flight from London Heathrow to Hong Kong. After it touches down, I found no spoilers are being deployed. Is it normal? I have never travelled on a flight with no spoilers being delpoyed after touch down. Is it a mechanical failure or is there other reasons to explain why the pilots do not deploy the spoilers?

[ACman]

Well where were you sitting?

[RingwaySam]

A few days ago, I was travelling on a 747-400 flight from London Heathrow to Hong Kong. After it touches down, I found no spoilers are being deployed. Is it normal? I have never travelled on a flight with no spoilers being delpoyed after touch down. Is it a mechanical failure or is there other reasons to explain why the pilots do not deploy the spoilers?

I suppose it depends on the weight of the aircraft etc. Were there a lot of people on-board? and did you taxi to a stand near the end of the runway?

[MaxPower]

Well where were you sitting?

First class or Monkey class, does it really matter where he was sitting , if so, how ? ? ?

[ACman]

First class or Monkey class, does it really matter where he was sitting , if so, how ? ? ?

It does.

You know about optical deceptions right?

Well there are seats on certain aircraft forward of the wing that when the spoilers get deployed it looks like nothing has happend.

Where ever you are and watever your facing has an effect on what seeing.

[MaxPower]

^^You got a point there, I didnt know you were referring to the visual deception.

And by my previous post, I meant that it wouldnt matter where he was sitting though, as mechanical failure or not, the plane would give a cr@p where that passenger was sitting. But I get what you mean.

Btw What was the aircrafts landing weight at that time ? If AL Cheng can get it or anyone else, might solve it.

[AJ]

Shouldn't matter, spoilers should be deployed on all 747 landings, whether by the auto-speedbrake system or manually if it is not servicable.

[FlyingPhotog]

Shouldn't matter, spoilers should be deployed on all 747 landings, whether by the auto-speedbrake system or manually if it is not servicable.

Out of curiosity, how long would it take to manually deploy a 747's spoilers?

[ACman]

Out of curiosity, how long would it take to manually deploy a 747's spoilers?

Manual Deploy is when you move the spoiler lever yourself, instead of setting it to Auto.

[FlyingPhotog]

Manual Deploy is when you move the spoiler lever yourself, instead of setting it to Auto.

You mean they don't go out on the wing and lift it by hand? So it's just a switch you move? I see. So it only would take a couple seconds then. I didn't know if it was a botton, or a crank or what.

[MaxPower]

Capt to F/O *Oh Charlie, Its not working.. Can you please go out on the wiing and crank it out ?*

[YYZPICS]

Im pretty sure its a crank?

[alvcheng]

At that time, I am sitting at the back of the plane. The plane is full of passengers. The fuel tank should be quite empty after a long flight, so the plane should not be too heavy.

Before touchdown, I did see spoilers being deployed to slow the airplane down, so optical deceptions is not a reason. Moreover, I found that reverse thrust is also not being used.

Is the use of spoilers a must for a 747 during touchdown?

[G-DALE]

Out of curiosity, how long would it take to manually deploy a 747's spoilers?

Simply pull the lever out from the 'Down' position, then move it into the 'Up' position.

You can clearly see the lever on the left here -

[photoid=409139]

Before touchdown, I did see spoilers being deployed to slow the airplane down, so optical deceptions is not a reason.

When you say "before touchdown," do you mean whilst on descent or literally seconds before touchdown? If this happened a few seconds before touchdown then it's more than likely that the PIC (pilot in command) was making a few final corrections using the roll ailerons (on the surface of the wings), which are the spoilers and fully deploy when the aircraft has touched down on the runway.

Hope that helps,

Dale

[Foxtrot]

Re:

You know, this topic just reminded me of a similar instance. I was in a DL
L 1011-500 on a flight from ATL to FRA back in 1993. Just after touchdown at FRA, I distinctly remember the spoilers not deploying. Flaps were fully deployed. The reverse thrust was also loud, but no spoilers. I was sitting in one of the last ten rows behind the wing, where I had a clear view of the flaps and everything, so I should've seen the spoilers come up but I didn't.

Going to the 744, there are some things I'd like to say. The spoilers should deploy regardless of what the plane's weight is, but as I just said, the
L 1011's spoilers didn't deploy at all when it landed (the one I was in i.e.). So I can believe that. Also, only if you're in the front first/business class cabin forward of the first door might you not see the spoilers being deployed. Otherwise, it shouldn't matter, you should be able to see the spoilers going up, they're not that small.

As for reverse thrust not being used, hmm, that's strange, it might be that the pilots just deployed the doors and let the engines idle to slow the plane down.