There's Now a K-Max On Duty

It's a flat-out cool helicopter, for a very important job. Kaman Aerospace Corp. told Aero-News Friday Central Copters, Inc. of Belgrade, MT has purchased a K-Max "aerial truck" helicopter for oil and gas exploration.

Central Copters is a multi-service helicopter company providing construction, fire suppression, personnel transport, and natural resource exploration services.

Mark Duffy, owner and president of Central Copters said, "The K-Max lift performance offers a unique capability that Central needs. We are pleased and excited to be adding it to our fleet."

Sal Bordonaro, president of Kaman’s Helicopters Division, said "K-Max’s high reliability, low maintenance costs, and high altitude performance continues to make it an attractive tool for many operations. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with this customer."

Kaman says its K-Max synchropter -- which sports two rotor blades at a slight angle to each other, driven by a common transmission -- is specifically designed for vertical reference flight, an important feature for external load work. It has a 6,000-pound on-the-hook capacity, with a 5,000-pound capability at 8,000 feet. K-Max is also capable of precisely placing critical supplies, equipment or water in confined or inaccessible areas.

The K-Max fleet has accumulated more than 200,000 flight hours since the aircraft was certified in 1994. K-Max helicopters are currently operating in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Europe, Australia, Korea, and Colombia.

Kaman Aerospace Corporation is part of the Aerospace segment of Kaman Corp. of Bloomfield, CN. The Aerospace segment is a subcontractor for complex metallic and composite structures and components for commercial, military and general aviation aircraft; designs and manufactures missile and bomb fuzing devices for the US and allied militaries; markets and supports the SH-2G and K-Max helicopters; and is a leading manufacturer of widely used proprietary aircraft bearings and components.

FMI: www.kaman.com, www.centralhelicopter.com