This is a cockpit view landing approach of a commercial airliner at Los Angeles airport (30 minutes compressed into 3 minutes, which is 10 X faster than normal speed.)

A very colorful and unique perspective of the city lights from the cockpit of a commercial jet as it makes some final turns before landing at LAX. The song is Los Angeles by Sugarcult.

The Sadde Six Arrival is from the northwest into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The downwind leg is entered over the Santa Monica (SMO) VOR and roughly follows the 10 freeway. The base leg turn is made along the 710, and final approach into runway 24R parallels the 105. Initial altitude is 10,000 feet and the runway elevation is approximately 125 feet.

Don’t have the $250,000 to secure a spot on one of Virgin Galactic‘s maiden joyrides into space next year? Here’s a look at what you’re missing. We flew in a regular Virgin Air plane over San Francisco right next to WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo this week. After a short flight, we touched down next to the spacecraft–the first time that a spaceship has landed at a commercial airport. (SpaceShipTwo is sandwiched in between the WhiteKnightTwo takeoff vessel in the video.)

Struggling with chunky carry-on bags or a number of bags collectively can be a problem. Well not with Truco. It’s a three-piece carry-on bag which can be separated or reshaped as necessary.

The 20-inch bag consists of a small carry-on, a laptop bag, and a personal valuables bag. It uses something called a “click-on system” to keep the different modules securely joined, but easily separated. Available for $200.

This concept auto, known as the Halo Intersceptor, is one of the most advanced cars ever seen. It’s not just a car, but it’s a plane, a boat, and a helicopter. The way the Halo Intersceptor works is that the car parks and locks itself in a different chassis. Below is a video showing how it works. I would love to have one!

Southwest Airlines (LUV) said Monday that it will buy smaller rival AirTran Airways (AAI) for $1.4 billion, in a merger of low-cost carriers whose impact will be felt from fares to the number of flights available to millions of passengers.

The merger continues a trend of airlline consolidation, which has seen Continental and United Airlines announcing their intention to join operations Oct. 1, making it the largest airline in the world, and Delta and Northwest merging in 2008.

“The acquisition of AirTran represents a unique opportunity to grow Southwest Airlines’ presence in key markets we don’t yet serve and takes a significant step towards positioning us for future growth,” Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said.

This is a dream come true. We all come a little closer to reality today with news that the Terrafugia Transition, a flying car developed by MIT-trained aeronautical engineers and MBA’s, will begin limited production in late 2011. The vehicle will be produced in Woburn, Massachusetts.

The Boston Herald reports that Terrafugia needs to deliver 30 aircraft each year to stay in the black. That’s not an easy feat for an entirely new breed of vehicle that costs up to $250,000 a pop. But Terrafugia already has 85 orders for the FAA-approved flying car, so the company can at least make a go of it.

Boeing’s 747-8 jumbo jet may represent the best of what engineers have to offer now, but Airbus has reached 40 years into future and come back with a design that barely resembles the aircraft of today. The Concept Plane, revealed this week at the U.K’s Farnborough International Airshow, is a combination of future aerodynamics, materials, cabin design, and engine technology.

It may look like the stuff of science fiction, although this unmanned jet is most likely the combat craft of the future. Named Taranis, after the Celtic god of thunder, the £142.5 million ($214 million) prototype has been unveiled by the British Ministry of Defence.

Dubbed the “pinnacle” of British engineering and aeronautical design, it is the size of a light aircraft and has been equipped with advanced stealth technology making it virtually undetectable. Almost invisible to ground radar, it is designed to travel at high jet speeds and cover massive distances between continents.

The plane is built to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on enemy territory using onboard sensors. And it has been designed to carry a cache of weapons, including bombs and missiles , giving it a potential long-range strike capability. It can be controlled from anywhere in the world with satellite communications.

Experts say the cutting-edge design is at the forefront of world technology and as advanced as any US development.

Gerald Howarth, minister for international security strategy, said: “Taranis is a truly trailblazing project. The first of its kind in the UK, it reflects the best of our nation’s advanced design and technology skills and is a leading programme on the global stage.”

The jet was unveiled at a ceremony at BAE Systems in Warton, Lancashire. Flight trials are due to start next year.

The next major replacements for the Boeing 737 and 777 models may not actually come from Boeing at all. MIT researchers recently presented NASA with two models for efficient, low emissions planes. This is part of a $2.1 million research contract awarded to the university by NASA in 2008. MIT’s objective: design quiet subsonic planes that emit 70% less NOx, burn 70% less fuel than current models, and have the ability to take off from short runways.

The 180-passenger D “double bubble” series, intended to replace the Boeing 737 & the 350 passenger H “hybrid wing body” series, a replacement for the Boeing 777.

Bluebox is turning the iPad into possible in-flight entertainment box. iPads are small, portable, give the user control over when and what they do for entertainment, and since they can be wirelessly-served data through specialized apps, it’s easy for the operator to serve out films, TV shows, and what-not. Their battery life is good for all but the longest flights, and re-charging them is easy. Best of all, if you hand out iPads to customers, you don’t need to build in-flight amusement gear into your seat-backs–which cuts all the expense, complication, tricky hardware and software maintenance and sheer weight (think of fuel-savings) associated with dedicated systems.

Have you ever been to the airport only to discover that your bag weighs just enough to get you hit with extra fees is not a happy experience. Well here’s a new option. Instead of packing a gadget that weighs your suitcase, this suitcase weighs itself. It’s about $100 and you can buy one from HERE.

Last year, Ryanair, the budget airline run by Michael O’Leary, announced it was considering introducing coin-operated toilets on its flights. Then it announced that the cost of checking in bags will go up 25%. NOW Spirit Airlines will charge as much as $45 each way for a carry-on bag starting Aug. 1. YES, a carry on! Personal items like purses (ha ha) and laptop computers that fit under the seat will still be free (THANKS. Spirit will be the first airline to charge passengers for carry-ons. ”I didn’t think anyone would go this far,” said Jay Sorensen, an airline consultant who specializes in airline fees.