Help ID this helo...

[GrauGeist]

Ok gang, here's a good one.
I'm familiar with just about every firefighting aircraft since I see them every summer for months on end up here in Northern California.

As far as rotory-wing types go, this one has me stumped. I haven't seen it before and it's configured almost like a super-lift, except it's tiny and is a contra-rotating setup.
Also interesting to see that it's taking it's "bambi bucket" along, when usually the water buckets are picked up at a forward base for deployment and then dropped off before heading back to refuel.

I captured it with this crappy cellphone, so I'll post the fullsized photo so you can zoom in for a better look.

 

[nuuumannn]

Kaman K-Max.

Kaman K-MAX - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[GrauGeist]

LOL!!
I knew the first to ID it would be either you or Graeme or Wojtek!

That's a rather rare sight around here as CDF uses UH-1s and contractors use the CH-47s and CH-54 Dragonflies.

Thank you, sir, mystery solved!

 

[FLYBOYJ]

One of my last places of employment had 3 of them. Believe it or not the blades are made out of wood!!! This was from my office window.

 

[Graeme]

Impressive seat...

 

[Graeme]

(Flight International February 1993)

 

[nuuumannn]

Thank you, sir, mystery solved!

Welcome Malcolm...

 

[FLYBOYJ]

A very interesting machine for sure! Kaman would recycle the blades when they timed out. I took care of records for the three aircraft and some of the way they tracked components was archaic!

 

[cvairwerks]

The R-4 had steel, wood and fabric blades.

 

[GrauGeist]

I suppose that the "intermeshing rotors" should have been my first clue, Kaman has been using that design since shortly after WWII.

I'm just not all that familiar with the K-MAX since they are rarely seen around here.
The heli-logging up here is done mostly by Columbia, who also use the Sikorsky superlifts.

 

[NVSMITH]

-Some time ago I saw one in Florida lifting logs and in the past couple of weeks they have been on TV as part of the wildfire coverage. I don't know if any are flying locally; my guess is that the news crews just stick in footage because they have a rather different appearance.
-As noted above, unmistakably Kaman; I saw HH-43s on the ramp in Vietnam.
-I believe that the Seasprite was Kaman's only production helicopter with conventional rotors. Kaman had some interesting experimental designs.

 

[GreenKnight121]

In Dec 2011, 2 K-Max helos entered service with the USMC in Afghanistan... operating in autonomous and remotely-piloted modes.

They remained in operation there until May 2014, and are now being used to establish the official requirements for a formal "Program of Record" for an unmanned cargo helo for the USMC.