History
Charles Kaman founded the company in December 1945 with $2,000 of capital and his invention of the servo-flap controlled rotor.
- January 15, 1947
- K-125 - Kaman's first helicopter; Kaman selected an intermeshed contrarotating twin rotor design.
- July, 1949
- K-225 - An improved version of the K-125; the U.S. Navy bought two and the Coast Guard one for $25,000 each. Later, they received the H-22 designation.
- December 1951
- A modified K-225 equipped with a Boeing 502 (YT50) engine becomes the world's first gas turbine powered helicopter. This aircraft is now at the Smithsonian
- 1953
- Kaman produced the first electrically powered drone
- April 1953
- Ordered for the U.S. Marine Corps, the HOK-1 first flies; Air Force version was the H-43A Huskie
- 1954
- K-16 A V/STOL designed around a rotoprop
- March 1954
- A modified Kaman HTK-1 becomes the world's first twin-turbine powered helicopter
- September, 1956
- HH-43 Huskie — A variant of the OH-43, equipped with a Lycoming T-53 gas turbine engine
- July 1957
- QH-43 - A HTK-1 modified as a UAV
In the late 1950s, Kaman built the Kaman K-17, an experimental tipjet powered helicopter using a Blackburn Aviation-built Turbomeca Turmo turbine powering a compressor delivering cold air to the rotor tips.
The HU2K-1, selected by the USN as a general purpose naval helicopter, makes its first flight on July 2, 1959. It enters service as the UH-2A Seasprite in 1962.
- March 1960
- Kaman develops and flies the first all composite main rotor blade.
In October 1961 the H-43 Huskie set an altitude record of 10,000 m (33,000 ft) and rate of climb records.
- During the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the Huskie flew more rescue missions than all other aircraft combined — with the best safety record of any U.S. military aircraft.
- 1962
- UH-2A / B production begins
- January 1964
- First flight of Kaman's experimental Convertiplane equipped with a GE J-85 engine and wings from a Beechcraft Queen Air. The aircraft achieves speeds of over 320 km/h
- 1965
- Tomahawk — A Seasprite modified with stub wings and a pair of twin guns side-by-side under the nose. Kaman's proposal for the US Army 's interim gunship helicopter between the AAFSS (AH-56) and AAH (AH-64) competitions. Lost to the Bell 209 (AH-1 HueyCobra)
Due to the limited power of its single engine, the Seasprites are modified for the USN into twin turbine helicopters.
- 1969
- US Navy begins LAMPS (Light Airborne Multipurpose System) development to obtain an on board helicopter for escort ships
- 1971
- SAVER — The Stowable Aircrew Vehicle Escape Rotoseat is the first jet-powered autogyro with telescoping rotor blades
- May 1973
- SH-2F Seasprite - The LAMPS Mk I enters US Navy service
- July 1976
- Kaman designs and begins manufacturing the K-747 blade, the world's first production all-composite rotor blade for the Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopter. Total production exceeds 4,000 blades.
- January 1991
- Magic Lantern, a new laser-based mine countermeasures system, is deployed in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. It is highly successful in locating mines.
- February 1993
- SH-2G Seasprite - The new version of the Seasprite, with new avionics, mission electronics and GE T-700 engines, enters US Navy service
- August 1994
- K-1200 K-MAX - a purpose-built helicopter with intermeshing rotors specializing in external load operations.
- November 1998
- The Egyptian Air Force accepts delivery of its 10th SH-2G Super Seasprite for use in anti-submarine warfare missions, completing the order and becoming the first international customer to operate the aircraft.
- August 1999
- New Zealand approves purchase of SH-2G(NZ).
- January 2000
- Australian SH-2G(A) begins initial flight testing.
- January 2001
- U.S. Government purchases 5 K-MAX for Peru.
- October 2002
- The 5 Peruvian K-MAX are transferred to the Colombian Army where they are still in service as of 2008.
- June 2008
- All Royal Australian Navy SH-2G Seasprite helicopters are withdrawn from service and returned to supplier as budget blew-out and contract specifications unable to be met.
- January 31, 2011
- Charles Kaman, founder of Kaman Aircraft died in Bloomfield, CT.
In June 2008 Kaman acquired Brookhouse Holdings Limited, a world leading composite development company based in the UK, and renames it Kaman Composites UK Ltd
Read more about this topic: Kaman Aircraft
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“There are two great unknown forces to-day, electricity and woman, but men can reckon much better on electricity than they can on woman.”
—Josephine K. Henry, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 15, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
“The true theater of history is therefore the temperate zone.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)