Helicopter pioneer, inventor and philanthropist Charles Huron Kaman died January 31 at the age of 91.
Kaman earned an aeronautical engineering degree from Catholic University in 1940 and was later employed at United Aircraft’s Hamilton Standard division, where he worked with Igor Sikorsky. In 1945, at age 26, he founded Kaman Aircraft in his mother’s garage, and served as CEO until 1999 and chairman until 2001. Today Kaman has revenues of $1.2 billion. Under Kaman’s leadership, the company introduced rotor-blade servo flaps, intermeshing main rotors (which eliminated the need for a tail rotor), composite main rotor blades, the first single and twin gas-turbine powered helicopters, and the first remotely piloted helicopter. Kaman flew intermeshing-rotor helicopters as early as 1947 with the Kaman K-125. In 1951, the Kaman K-225 became the first gas turbine-powered helicopter. Kaman’s legacy helicopters include the H-43 Husky, which flew more rescue missions during the Korean and Vietnam wars than any other helicopter, as well as the SH-2 Seasprite and the K-Max “aerial truck.”
