Boeing

The Boeing 777-300ER's new semi-levered landing gear system has performed flawlessly during the flight-test program. The unique gear, which is manufactured by Goodrich Corp., allows the airplane to rotate early by shifting the center of rotation from the main axle to aft axle of the three-axle landing gear truck. As the airplane rotates, the nose is allowed to rise higher earlier.

The gear feature is independent of the Tail-Strike Protection system, but both give Boeing customers the ability to take off on shorter runways or put more payload on the airplane for the same length of runway.