Pintle exotic metal alloys. For World War II aircraft with sideways-retracting main gear units, carefully set-up "pintle angles" for such axes of rotation during retraction and extension allowed the maingear struts to be raked forward while fully extended for touchdown and better ground handling, while permitting retraction into rearwards-angled landing gear wells in their wings to usually clear the forward wing spar for stowing while in flight. Pintle A pintle is a pin or bolt, usually inserted into a gudgeon, which is used as part of a pivot or hinge. Other applications include pintle and lunette ring for towing, and pintle
Living hinge Living hinge A living hinge is a thin flexible hinge (flexure bearing) made from the same material as the two rigid pieces it connects. It is typically thinned or cut to allow the rigid pieces to bend along the line of the hinge. The minimal friction and very little wear in such a hinge makes it useful in the design of microelectromechanical systems, and the low cost and ease of manufacturing makes them quite common in disposable packaging. Plastic living hinges are typically manufactured in an injection molding operation that creates all three parts at one time as a single