Total Noob Question: Brake Flaps on the Wings?

[joey_d1119]

When I land in commericial aircraft I usually apply the brakes and reverse thrust.

When I watch the videos of others who land I see a row of flaps along the top of the wing that pop up to slow down the jetliner...what is the button for those? And what are they called?

[Mazza]

They are called Spoilers or Air Brake, the default key is '/' 

[EVVFCX]

Hi Joey,

In the default 737 and others default ones, and with the spoilers Not deployed, use Shift + /
What will happen is when your weight is on the undercarriage on landing, the spoilers will automatically deploy.

If you look at the throttle quadrant during flight you'll see your spoiler lever has three positions:
from the top position, this is spoilers retracted. / key
Next is spoiler on automatic shift + /
next is spoilers deployed. / key

The / key is a toggle switch so spoilers are either deployed or not.

I don't normally do it but I think you can use your mouse with the throttle quadrant displayed, I set them up well in advance of finals, the less you have to touch the keyboard (or joystick buttons) the better your finals will be, when you knock off your reverse thrust, the spoilers will retract.

regards

Steve.