Could be, but I don't know who her instructor was. My mom was pregnant with me at the time of her training, and her doctor recommended she not pursue her helicopter rating because of the vibration from the Kaman (she was already a fixed-wing private pilot).
John Newell, e-mail, 28.07.2020 06:52
My sister and I got a ride in a Kaman K-240 at the Lazy 8 Ranch resort in Pauma Valley CA in about 1959/1960. I think we were 7 and 9 years old. I am wondering if this was the same helicopter your mother soloed in SD in 1958? Our pilot was a middle aged man.
S. Cummings, e-mail, 09.03.2020 00:13
My mother, Doris Prario, was the first woman to fly the K-240, soloing Fri, 13 June 1958 after 10 hours of instruction in San Diego, CA. The event was later documented by the San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Oct 1958 edition.
Earl L. Roemer, e-mail, 11.02.2018 09:40
I owned, flew (most briefly!) and personally restored the Kaman HTK-1 on display at Tillamook. It has a Lycoming O-540, 240 hp engine on it...from the factory. I owned the last 3 of the 29 manufactured. I have extensive photos--the museum wanted none of them.
Cordell Bahn, e-mail, 19.09.2015 05:48
Yesterday I was looking at a Kaman HTK-1 at the Tillamook Aviation Museum in Oregon and noted that it had a six cylinder engine, not a four. Six is the number noted in other sources of information on the O-435. I'd appreciate anything that anyone might ad. Thank you.
Roger Desjardins, e-mail, 02.12.2010 12:10
Very nice webpage. I wonder if Microsoft finally incorporated an early years Kaman into their Flightsimulator versions after 2004. Thats the version I fly at present. I spend all my spare time flying the Robinson R22 Beta II in simulation but I sure would like to fly a Kaman to get a feel for the handling of a twin rotor helicopter.