Originally Posted by
cwatters
Sorry to show my ignorance but...
One microswitch failure and the spoilers don't retract or?
I never thought much of this practice, and at my previous employer one crew found themselves airborne with one panel stuck up (and no horn). It is not normally that big of a deal if they do not deploy on landing; it is a big deal if they do not all retract on takeoff.
As for why this is done, the story I was given by a test pilot at Downsview was that it had to do with...office politics. I guess that the flight test folks are not free of it either.
As for crosswind technique, is the airplane heavy and performance limited? Or perhaps the runway braking action is less than good? One must adjust technique to fit the situation.