The Kaman K-225 is an American experimental helicopter developed by Kaman Aircraft . One example was modified to become the world's first gas turbine -powered helicopter.
7-568: The K-125 was Charles Kaman 's first helicopter , which utilized intermeshing rotors and Kaman's patented servo-flap stability control. The K-125 first flew on 15 January 1947. The K-190 and K-225 were an improved versions of the K-125, which first flew in April and July 1949 respectively. The U.S. Navy bought two and the Coast Guard one for $ 25,000 each. The United States Air Force evaluated one K-225 with
14-549: A K-225 was the first helicopter flown in Turkey. Data from General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Charles Kaman Charles Huron Kaman ( / k ə ˈ m ɑː n / kə- MAHN ; June 15, 1919 – January 31, 2011) was an American aeronautical engineer, businessman, inventor, and philanthropist, known for his work in rotary-wing flight and also in musical instrument design via
21-454: The Kaman K-125 helicopter first flew. It utilized intermeshing rotors and Kaman's patented servo-flap rotor control. The Kaman K-225 , first flown in 1951, also used intermeshing rotors with servo-flap control and was the world's first helicopter to be powered by a gas turbine . Kaman was an aficionado of the guitar, and in 1966, he founded Ovation Instruments. The company would become
28-584: The Kaman Music Corporation . Charles Huron Kaman was born in 1919 to Charles William Kaman and Mabel Davis Kaman in Washington, D.C. , the son of a construction supervisor. He later attended Catholic University of America , gaining an engineering degree magna cum laude in 1940. Kaman's first aircraft experience was working for Igor Sikorsky . In 1945, he started his own aircraft company, Kaman Aircraft , to pursue his own designs. In January 1947,
35-605: The Ovation Guitar Company and developed an acoustic guitar using aerospace composite materials , featuring a rounded back design. Kaman also founded Kaman Industrial Technologies, one of the largest industrial distributors in North America. He and his second wife, Roberta, created the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, and developed a breed of German Shepherd to act as guide dogs . Kaman's first wife
42-690: The designation YH-22. A modified K-225 equipped with a Boeing 502 (YT50) turboshaft engine became the first gas turbine-powered helicopter in December 1951. This aircraft is now at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. A standard K-225 is preserved in the New England Air Museum at Windsor Locks Connecticut . In 1953, the Turkish Army purchased one Kaman K-225 helicopter and
49-477: Was the former Helen Sylvander. They married in 1945 and divorced in 1971. Later in 1971 he remarried, to Roberta Hallock, who died in 2010. He had three children — C. William Kaman, II; Steven W. Kaman; and Mrs. Cathleen Kaman Wood. Kaman died in Bloomfield, Connecticut , on January 31, 2011, at the age of 91. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his last years. Kaman was awarded honorary degrees by
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