Charles Huron Kaman ( ; June 15, 1919 – January 31, 2011) was an American aeronautical engineer, businessman, inventor, and philanthropist, known for his work in rotary-wing flightHall of Fame/Inventor Profile: Charles Kaman
and also in musical instrument design via the Kaman Music Corporation.

Biography

Charles Huron Kaman was born in 1919 to Charles William Kaman and Mabel Davis Kaman in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, the son of a construction supervisor. He later attended Catholic University of America, gaining an engineering degree ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' in 1940.

Helicopters

Kaman's first aircraft experience was working for

Igor Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, (25 May 1889 – 26 October 1972) was a Russian-American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. His first success came with the Sikorsky S-2, the second aircraft of his design and construc ...

. In 1945, he started his own aircraft company, Kaman Aircraft, to pursue his own designs. In January 1947, 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 A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

Business

Kaman was an aficionado of the guitar, and in 1966, he founded Ovation Instruments. The company would become the Ovation Guitar Company and developed an acoustic guitar using aerospace

composite material A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...

s, 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 The German Shepherd, also known in Britain as an Alsatian, is a German Dog breed, breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various Old German herding dogs, traditional German herding dog ...

to act as

guide dog Guide dogs (colloquially known in the US as seeing-eye dogs) are assistance dogs trained to lead people who are blind or visually impaired around obstacles. Although dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are red–green c ...

Marriage and children

Kaman's first wife 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.

Death

Kaman died in Bloomfield, Connecticut, on January 31, 2011, at the age of 91. He had suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in his last years.

Awards

Kaman was awarded honorary degrees by the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...

, and the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

. His other honors included: *

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a US patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also operate ...

(2003) * Honorary Fellow of the American Helicopter Society (1950)Preston 2007, p. 38 * Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy (1997) * National Medal of Technology (1996) * Naval Aviation Hall of Honor at the National Naval Aviation Museum (1996) * Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal (1995) * Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...

(1995) * Kaman's K-225 helicopter is displayed in the Smithsonian Institution's Vertical Flight exhibition at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. This design was the first helicopter to fly with a gas turbine-driven transmission. * International Air & Space Hall of Fame inductee (1999)Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. .

References

13 < https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/kaman-k-225 (retrieved 7/5/2018)

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

— Rotor Control Mechanism for Aircraft of Rotary Wing Type

: Obituary of Charles Kaman on the Kaman Corporation web site
Bill Kaman Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2007)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaman, Charles 1919 births 2011 deaths American aerospace engineers Aviation inventors American inventors National Medal of Technology recipients People from Bloomfield, Connecticut People from Washington, D.C. Catholic University of America alumni Engineers from Connecticut