In aeronautics, air brakes or speed brakes are a type of flight control surface used on an aircraft to increase the drag on the aircraft. When extended into the airstream, air brakes cause an increase in the drag on the aircraft. When not in use, they conform to the local streamlined profile of the aircraft in order to help minimize drag.
Air brakes on the rear fuselage of a Eurowings BAe 146-300
Convair F-106 Delta Dart air brake deployed
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon showing its split speed brakes inboard of the stabilators or "tailerons"
An F-15 landing with its large dorsal air brake panel deployed
In aeronautics, a spoiler is a device which intentionally reduces the lift component of an airfoil in a controlled way. Most often, spoilers are plates on the top surface of a wing that can be extended upward into the airflow to spoil the streamline flow. By so doing, the spoiler creates a controlled stall over the portion of the wing behind it, greatly reducing the lift of that wing section. Spoilers differ from airbrakes in that airbrakes are designed to increase drag without disrupting the lift distribution across the wing span, while spoilers disrupt the lift distribution as well as increasing drag.
A close look at the inner workings of spoilers in lift dump deployment during the landing of an Airbus A320.
A close look at the spoiler (the parts of the wing that are raised up) during the landing of an Airbus A321.
A view of the right wing of a Boeing 767-300ER during descent with spoilers partially deployed.
Spoilers deployed to slow down for descent on a Qantas Boeing 737-800.
