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I watched this video (link with time) and wondered why the pilot has retracted the spoilers so shortly after landing.

Because the runway is wet and it looks like the plane is still quite fast even in slow motion. Wouldn't it be better to have more braking grip?

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    $\begingroup$ Lol. Austrian Airlines with a didgeridoo playing in the background. Love it. $\endgroup$
    – acpilot
    Commented Dec 17, 2016 at 20:09

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The pilot doesn't retract the spoilers until the airplane has slowed down considerably, at the speed it's traveling at that point the spoilers would be adding no benefits so there's no point keeping them deployed.

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  • $\begingroup$ There are just two things: It is a rainy day, so I would go safe and let the spoilers extended long. And: Retracting the spoilers and flaps is part of the "After Landing"-Checklist. So there has to be a reason for that. By the way: He retracted the spoilers a few seconds after disengaging the reverser. This should be around 60 knots. So the speed when he retracted the spoilers was approximately around 40 knots, I think still fast enough. $\endgroup$
    – Noah Krasser
    Commented Dec 17, 2016 at 16:34
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    $\begingroup$ @NoahFisher: Spoilers are not primary brakes, they destroy lift created by the wings so that brakes can be more efficient, and at the same time they create more drag. At 40 kt, no lift will be created. Here is an aerodynamic brake. $\endgroup$
    – mins
    Commented Dec 17, 2016 at 17:06
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    $\begingroup$ @NoahFisher It's worth adding that in most modern airliners the ground spoilers operation is automatic (assuming they are in "armed" mode): they are automatically deployed on touch down of the main landing gears and auto-retracted once reverse thrust is deactivated (usually between 60 to 80 kts). $\endgroup$
    – DeepSpace
    Commented Dec 18, 2016 at 9:16

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