You have two problems, not hearing the Engine's from the front and the strange speedbrake problem, I've not seen anything saying Jets are slow when you can't hear the engines from the front.
I hate you...:D
For some people they can't or don't like talking to people themselves. I'm one of them so I use chat in conjunction with listening to people on TS, works fine for me.
Can I just say, I'm no Toad fanatic and I was able to land a single engine toad on the small x shaped runway south of Kobuleti first time. Sounds like you need to do some practice.