Kaman K-1200 K-MAX
(Photo: André Völzke via Wikipedia Creative Commons)
One of the strangest helicopters you have ever seen is going back into production. Following a 12-year hiatus, the Kaman K-MAX K-1200 heavy-lifter, first built in the 1990s, will again start emerging from the factory after the Connecticut-based manufacturer received an order for 10 helicopters from two operators.
First type certified in 1994, the K-MAX is unusual for its intermeshing twin main rotors, the same basic principle used in Charles Kaman's first prototype helicopter in 1947, the K-225.
Carrying a projected price in the neighborhood of $8 million, the K-MAX will relaunch with new deliveries in 2017. The customers are Rotex Helicopter of Switzerland and Helicopter Express of Chamblee, Georgia. The helicopters will be manufactured at Kaman's facilities in Jacksonville, Florida, and Bloomfield, Connecticut.
Check out the logic-defying K-MAX in action here.
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