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Last month I was on an Emirates A380 to London Heathrow. I noticed on the landing, the right ailerons were fully up along with the spoilers when decelerating on the ground. Are the ailerons configured for acting as air brakes on landings? Or was the pilot perhaps counteracting a crosswind?

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Answer is yes, good eye. From the A380 flight crew manual:

enter image description here

You can watch it here.

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Yes the ailerons deflect upwards after main wheel touchdown to dump as much lift as possible: they work as lift dumpers, together with the spoilers which are deployed first.

enter image description here

Source: an A380 pilot plus the FCOM.

Update Just arrived on an A320, from could see both ailerons and they both deflect upwards as well after touchdown.

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  • $\begingroup$ Do you still have roll control on the ground? Or, related, wouldn't a strong crosswind tend to lift the upwind wing? $\endgroup$ – Martin Argerami Jul 30 '17 at 22:14
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    $\begingroup$ Roll control on the ground is done by the landing gear:). It's important to let the tyres do their job as fast as possible to avoid skidding. $\endgroup$ – Koyovis Jul 30 '17 at 23:15
  • $\begingroup$ @Koyovis - RE: A320, I can't see it on multiple YouTube videos. $\endgroup$ – ymb1 Aug 1 '17 at 15:34
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The ailerons, along with the spoilers are configured to act as lift dumpers on touchdown in most of the newer Airbus aircraft. This was introduced in the Elevator Aileron Computer ELAC standard L96, where,

Aileron up deflection at ground spoiler extension becomes basic function.

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