Kaman Corporation

Kaman Corporation is an American aerospace company headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, founded in 1945 by Charles Kaman. For its first ten years it worked exclusively as a designer and manufacturer of helicopters that set world records and achieved many aviation firsts, beginning with the K-125 of 1947. A K-225 fitted with a Boeing turboshaft engine in 1951 became the world's first gas turbine powered helicopter, and the U.S. Navy's UH-2A Seasprite entered service in 1962. From 1956 Kaman also worked as an aerospace subcontractor to firms such as McDonnell Douglas and Grumman, and from the mid-1960s it diversified outside aerospace, using its composite materials expertise to create the Ovation guitar and the Kaman Music business. Kaman later agreed to be acquired by the private equity firm Arcline Investment Management, which completed the purchase.