While Kamov was famous at the time for his autogyros, the Soviet government was more interested in helicopters so he designed the KA-8 as a flying motorcycle (vozdushnii mototsikl).

The drag and flap hinges were driven by superimposed swash plates that the pilot directly controlled.

The engine and fuel tank were located at the front, a tail fin (later changed to a rudder) was installed at the rear, and pontoons were used for landing.

The original handlebar controls were replaced with vertical collective and cyclic levers and the pontoons were narrowed after being flown and evaluated by Mikhail Gurov in 1947.

[1] Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters[2] & Stingray's List of Rotor Aircraft[3]General characteristics Performance