verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message kaman aerospace corporation type public traded as nyse kamn industry aerospace founded 1945 founder charles kaman headquarters bloomfield connecticut united states number of locations 241 offices 5 distribution facilities area served worldwide key people neal j. keating chairman president & ceo products metallic and composite structures specialty bearings fuzes revenue us 1.59 billion fy 2012 operating income us 92.8 million fy 2012 net income us 55.0 million fy 2012 total assets us 1.1 billion fy 2012 total equity us 42.1 billion fy 2012 number of employees 5 007 divisions kaman industrial technologies website www.kaman.com footnotes references 1 external video oral history bill kaman reflects on his father s love of music and his contributions to both the aerospace and music industries . interview date june 9 2007 namm national association of music merchants oral history library kaman aerospace k m n is an american aerospace company with headquarters in bloomfield connecticut . it was founded in 1945 by charles kaman . during the first ten years the company operated exclusively as a designer and manufacturer of several helicopters that set world records and achieved many aviation firsts . in 1956 kaman began to diversify 2 as an aerospace subcontractor of mcdonnell douglas grumman and others . in the mid 1960s kaman diversified outside of the aerospace industry using the expertise kaman had gained in composite materials and the end of the need for skilled woodworkers to craft wooden rotor blades . charles kaman a guitarist as well as an aerospace pioneer worked with his engineers and other musicians to create the round backed composite body ovation guitar which revolutionized the guitar industry and led to the eventual creation of kaman music now kmcmusicorp . kaman music was an independent distributor of musical instruments and accessories and a major producer of guitars and guitar parts and accessories . contents 1 history 2 products 3 references 4 external links history edit this section contains embedded lists that may be better presented using prose . you can help by converting the list or lists to prose if appropriate . editing help is available . april 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message charles kaman founded the company in december 1945 with 2 000 of capital and his invention of the servo flap controlled rotor . 3 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 u.s. 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 turboshaft engine becomes the world s first gas turbine powered helicopter . 4 this aircraft is now at the smithsonian institution s national air and space museum . 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 5 in the late 1950s kaman built the kaman k 17 an experimental tip jet powered helicopter 6 using a blackburn aircraft built turbomeca turmo turbine powering a compressor delivering cold air to the rotor tips . 7 the hu2k 1 selected by the u.s. navy 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 citation needed 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 . anton flettner who emigrated to the united states and became the chief designer for kaman aircraft creating the kaman hh 43 huskie 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 turbojet 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 u.s. 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 u.s. navy into twin turbine helicopters . 1969 u.s. navy begins light airborne multi purpose system lamps development to obtain an onboard 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 u.s. 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 super seasprite the new version of the seasprite with new avionics mission electronics and ge t 700 engines enters u.s. 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. federal 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 8 as budget blew out and contract specifications unable to be met . january 31 2011 charles kaman founder of kaman aircraft died in bloomfield connecticut . 9 in june 2008 kaman acquired brookhouse holdings limited a world leading composite development company based in the united kingdom and renames it kaman composites uk ltd. 10 in november 2015 kaman announced that it was acquiring grw bearing gmbh for 142.9 million . grw designs and manufactures precision ball bearings and has production facilities in europe . 11 products edit k 125 k 190 k 225 k 1125 kaman hh 43 huskie hok huk kaman sh 2 seasprite kaman sh 2g super seasprite kaman k 1200 k max kaman ksa 100 saver references edit kaman corporation kamn . yahoo finance . kaman corp at fundinguniverse charles kaman mit inventor of the week boeing model 502 gas turbine engine kaman helis helicopter history flight 1959 aero engines 1957 p133 flight 26 july 1957 australia scraps super seasprite program . rotor & wing . aviation today . 5 march 2008 . retrieved 1 february 2011 . http avstop.com feb 2011 aviation pioneer founder of kaman aircraft passed away at 91.htm http www.kaman.com news kaman acquires brookhouse holdings limited kaman acquires germany s grw bearing for 143 million . industrial distribution . retrieved 2015 12 18 . external links edit kaman corporation kaman aerospace patents owned by kaman aerospace . us patent & trademark office . retrieved december 5 2005 . v t e aircraft produced by kaman aircraft company designations k 16 k 17 k 20 k 125 k 190 k 225 k 240 k 600 k 700 k 1125 k 1200 k max ksa 100 military designations hok htk huk h 22 h 43 hu2k uh 2 hh 2 sh 2 sh 2g coordinates 41 51 33 n 72 42 02 w 41.859142 n 72.700471 w 41.859142 ; 72.700471 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kaman aircraft & oldid 724264847 categories bloomfield connecticutcompanies based in hartford county connecticuthelicopter manufacturers of the united stateshidden categories articles needing additional references from march 2009all articles needing additional referencesarticles needing cleanup from april 2008all pages needing cleanuparticles with sections that need to be turned into prose from april 2008all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from november 2012coordinates on wikidata navigation menu 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