Dash 8 Spoilers
 

May be a dumb question with a very simple answer, but have often seen the Dash 8-100s lining up for departure with the spoilers up. They are retracted as the power comes up, but I was wondering if there is any reason for them to be raised on line-up??

Thanks!

Before takeoff on the Dash 8 the left seat pilot selects a mode switch to "air", and the logic is that the aircraft has weight-on wheels with the power levers reduced, so it is landing and the spoilers come up. As the power is advanced, the aircraft must be either taking off or going round, so the spoilers retract.

This has been discussed on this forum in greater depth previously if you want more detail.

Joe

System as described above.

Disabled on some 100s, not installed on 200s or 300s, but used I believe on the 400s.

Thanks guys, thats all the detail I need, cheers!

That switch is called the "Flight/Taxi" switch. It is magnetically latched in the Taxi position, so even if the pilots do not select it to Flight before takeoff, when the power levers is advanced beyond a certain point, it automatically goes to the Flight position.