Paul Maloney

United States of America

 

Paul Maloney, a leader of Kaman Aerospace for 38 years and AHS member of 49 years (he joined AHS in 1951), died on March 28, 2000 in Wethersfield, Connecticut. At Kaman, he held high-level responsibilities such as chief of structures, director of engineering and director of new product development. But his principal interest was helicopter rotor blade design, a field in which he held several patents including the repairable-extendable composite rotor blade. He designed and developed the K747 composite blade used on the AH-1 Cobra. This was the first composite rotor balde to be mass-produced. Introduced in 1978, Kaman eventually produced 4,500 of these blades, many of which remain operational. Maloney's last program before retiring in late 1994 was the intermeshing K-mesh rotor system, which expanded servo flap rotor systems into heavy lift applications. Following retirement, he continued to consult for Kaman on various projects and remained active in AHS. 

AHS Update: Vertiflite Summer 2000