During the first ten years the company operated exclusively as a designer and manufacturer of several helicopters that set world records and achieved many aviation firsts.

In 1956, Kaman began to diversify[2] as an aerospace subcontractor of McDonnell Douglas, Grumman, and others.

In the mid-1960s Kaman diversified outside of the aerospace industry, using the expertise Kaman had gained in composite materials and the end of the need for skilled woodworkers to craft wooden rotor blades.

Charles Kaman, a guitarist as well as an aerospace pioneer, worked with his engineers and other musicians to create the round-backed, composite-body Ovation guitar, which led to the eventual creation of Kaman Music, a major distributor and manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories.

Charles Kaman founded the company in December 1945 with $2,000 of capital and his invention of the servo-flap controlled rotor.