Bill Sweetman – Page 2 – Valkyrie Strategic Solutions LLC

13 Jan

The Myth Of Old Boeing

January 13, 2024
By Bill Sweetman
2 comments

A door blew out of a brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 9, and fingers are being pointed at the company's apparent lapse in quality inspection, and at Boeing's cost-cutting and focus on shareholder value as a root cause. Not without good reason: suppliers like Spirit, spun off in 2005...

01 Oct

Blog

F-35 And Cognitive Dissonance

October 1, 2023
By Bill Sweetman
2 comments

Doubt that anyone wants to hear my opinions on the F-35 yet, but I'd like to point out some facts that induce cognitive dissonance. There's no doubt that the F-35 has enjoyed a run of market success, particularly across NATO, leading some to call it...

23 Sep

Blog

Hit The Road, Jack

September 25, 2023
By Bill Sweetman
1 comment

It's been road-base week. In an extensive joint exercise in Finland, an RAF Typhoon landed and took off from Highway 551 near the unusually vowel-deprived town of Tervo, some 200 miles north of Helsinki. A couple of days later, the Royal Norwegian Air Force did the same with...

04 Sep

Blog

Blue Bears, WIGs and rocket fighters

September 4, 2023
By Bill Sweetman
1 comment

As I write this on Labor Day, in the residential hinterland of the Pentagon, local citizens including, no doubt, a greater-then-average number of those responsible for planning national defense, are rolling up to shop at the neighboring Costco. We're in luck! Look at all the parking spaces!

27 Aug

Blog

Civil supersonics – as difficult as ever

August 27, 2023
By Bill Sweetman
1 comment

Walking into a London office around lunchtime, and announcing that I had enjoyed breakfast in Singapore, was a memorable experience. That was at the end of the 1977 International Air Transport Association AGM, as Concorde F-BTSC completed a 30,000 mile sales tour of the Far East, including a...

18 Aug

Blog

Adios, cigar and popsicle stick?

August 18, 2023
By Bill Sweetman
0 comments

2028. Leaders of the airline and commercial airplane industry gather at an environmental conference, in the new high-tech city of Neom in Saudi Arabia. As a waterside reception flows on, eyes turn to an unfamiliar shape in the sky, growing larger by the second, something like a great...

31 Jul

Blog

A Life On The Ocean Wave

July 31, 2023
By Bill Sweetman
0 comments

Are sea-based aircraft ready for a comeback? The latest in a series of new seaplane ventures made a splash at the Oshkosh air show, where Catalina Aircraft of Florida announced plans to restart production of the classic Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat, with new turbine engines (likely the...

16 Jul

Blog

Et tu, Cobber?

July 16, 2023
By Bill Sweetman
0 comments

The latest air force to start looking at "beyond the F-35" options is... Australia? Steve Trimble reports in Aviation Week: A missing piece in Australia’s fighter inventory will be filled in the short term by extending the life of the Boeing...

09 Jul

Blog

Where’s my flying car? Nowhere, and that’s a good thing

July 9, 2023
By Bill Sweetman
0 comments

Recent events surrounding the Bird Platform have reminded us that Tech Bros, billionaires or otherwise, have limits to their expertise. It's Tech Bros who have been pushing the urban air mobility idea, and have persuaded many that it's the future. But then in a quick exchange on said...

26 Jun

Blog

What did you do in the Great Engine War, Daddy?

July 7, 2023
By Bill Sweetman
0 comments

Even with everything else going on this weekend, I've been trying to make sense of last week's LockMart vs. P&W spat over the future F-35 propulsion solution. Summary: SecAF Frank Kendall has made it clear that the US Air Force prefers to address the F-35's thermal...

Posts by Bill Sweetman