The Man Behind Sierra Leone’s First Homemade Helicopter

For more than three decades, Francis A. S Tucker, commonly known as “the helicopter man” has been chasing a dream that many once thought impossible. His dream of building a real flying helicopter designed and assembled right here in Sierra Leone.

Today, Tucker is closer than ever to seeing that dream take off. All he needs now is NLe 15,000 to complete the project within three weeks.

Francis and his Sierra Eagle Helicopter

A Childhood Dream Turns Reality

Tucker grew up in Sherbro Island, where as a boy he would watch helicopters fly across the sky. What struck him most was the fact that all of them were made by “white people.”

That question planted a seed. At just a young age, Tucker began experimenting. After only three months of self-taught research, he managed to build a miniature helicopter that could take off with remote control. It was the first step in what would become his life’s work.

“I began to ask myself why is it that only they white people are making such brilliant and complex machines? Why not us?” he said.

By 1991, while studying Marine and Mechanical Engineering at Bonthe Technical Training College, Tucker had already begun serious research into helicopter technology. In 2000, he designed the full set of components for a real, single seater helicopter. And in 2007, construction officially began on what he proudly named “The Sierra Eagle.”

But the journey has been anything but easy. People doubted him, funding was scarce, and at one point he even lost his original research documents while moving from place to place seeking support. Yet he never gave up.

With support from a handful of believers including the late Malama C.J Thomas, a university lecturer, teaching Development Economics, who helped him design parts in AutoCAD. Followed by Niel Elis, a pilot of one of the choppers that were used by the military during the civil war in Sierra Leone who recommended his research. Tucker kept going, piece by piece every year, he built the Sierra Eagle largely from locally sourced components. Even the engine was modified from a BMW motorbike.

The Sierra Eagle Today

Now, the helicopter stands as a single seater machine with a unique design inspired by the wings of a bird. Tucker chose the name Sierra Eagle to symbolize both freedom and strength.

“When you look at the doors of the Sierra Eagle, they open like the wings of an eagle,” he explains.

Tucker envisions the Sierra Eagle as the beginning of something far greater, a future where Sierra Leone can design and build its own aircraft.

For Tucker, this helicopter is not just about flying, it is about proving that Sierra Leoneans can achieve what once seemed reserved for the Western world. He dreams of using the project to establish a Talent Development and Display Center. A space where young people with ideas can turn them into reality.

After almost 34 years, Tucker has brought the Sierra Eagle to completion. What remains is small but urgent. He needs NLe 15,000 to purchase small instruments such as Altimeter, Tachometer, and Temperature Gauges that will make the helicopter flight-ready.

With just three weeks left, Tucker hopes to make the helicopter flight-ready and believes Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad will rally behind his vision. However, if he’s unable to raise the funds, the dream of seeing Sierra Leone’s first homemade helicopter in the skies may be delayed indefinitely.

For more information on how to donate, reach out to him on this number +232 31957119.