Kaman K-MAX Helicopter
Photos by Scott Zeno, Story by Ken Kula
Connecticut-based Kaman Air Vehicles’ K-MAX helicopter is a medium-sized, single-engined, specialized aircraft whose prototype first flew in late 1991. The design fills the niche market of an external-load carrying helicopter capable of hoisting up to three tons. Secondary roles include aerial firefighting and medical evacuation. An uncrewed version was developed and used by the U. S. Marine Corps and offered to civilian operators too.
Internally known as the K-1200, it is crewed by a single pilot. In some circles, the K-MAX is called an “aerial truck”. The K-MAX has been produced during two production runs, one between 1991 – 2003 (38 airframes completed) and another between 2015 – 2023 (22 airframes completed). Thus, a total of 60 helicopters have been completed. The vast majority of these helicopters found use by civilian logging and heli-lift/flying crane companies.
The U. S. Marine Corps utilized several unmanned airframes of the K-MAX, designated as the CQ-24A. Kaman and Lockheed Martin teamed up to produce a pair of uncrewed aircraft, which were operated for a short time between 2010 and 2014 in Afghanistan, providing logistical support by delivering supplies to forward locations. In 2013, one of the aircraft crashed but was evidently repaired to fly again… and both were returned to Kaman in May 2014. Although the U. S. Navy and Marines completed hundreds of missions lifting more than three million pounds, the CQ-24A wasn’t chosen for further use. The only other military operator of the K-MAX was the Columbian Army.
Kaman proposed a civilian version of the uncrewed helicopter at one point, calling the modified aircraft the K-MAX Titan, but the program never caught on before the second production run ended.
Since the helicopter is flown by a single pilot and is not equipped with dual controls, Kaman uses an older HH-43 Husky helicopter, which was designed to be flown by a crew of two as a training aircraft for new pilots. Every once in a while, the single-engined Husky (which utilizes the same characteristic intermeshing rotor design) is seen in the Connecticut skies.
Scott Zeno caught up with this K-MAX at Kaman’s Bloomfield, Connecticut production facility. The airframe was formerly operated by Rainier Helicopters but would soon depart for use by Heli-Peaks in Switzerland.
