KAMAN AEROSPACE plans to ship the first K-MAX external-lift helicopter for Japan by the end of this month. The aircraft has been sold by Japanese K-MAX distributor KBK to Japan Royal Helicopters and is expected to enter service on power-line projects following Japanese certification.
Bloomfield, Connecticut-based Kaman, meanwhile, has secured two new US customers for the K-MAX: Mountain West Helicopters of northern California and Blue Mountain Helicopters of northern Oregon. Each will take delivery of one aircraft for logging.
Steve Daniels, Kaman's manager of commercial-aircraft operations, says that Mountain West and Blue Mountain are the first small US operators to purchase the $3.5 million K-MAX.
Kaman's customer base has shifted significantly since the K-MAX entered service in late 1994. Of the original launch customers, only Scott Paper and Canada's Midwest Helicopters still have aircraft. Erickson Air-Crane, Louisiana-Pacific and Weyerhauser have returned their leased K-MAXes. Midwest has ordered a second aircraft for February/March delivery.
An aircraft has been purchased, by Helog of Switzerland and another has been leased to France's Heli-Union, for use in Bolivia. Daniels says that the Bolivian operation, in support of oil exploration, could be extended by one year.
Source: Flight International
