Helicopter innovator, Ebe Legesse won the national aviation innovation competition, organized during the first Aviation Innovation Expo-2023 at the Science Museum here in Addis Ababa. He has been producing a helicopter using carton and other used materials since 2000. For the past 23 years now, Ebe has continued to produce better version helicopters. The current helicopter he displayed on the national competition is his sixth product. It is more modified than its predecessors.
Ebe Legesse was born and raised in North Western zone of Tigray Regional State, a remote village from the zonal capital, Shire city. He attended his primary education in Adi Daero and Shire and his secondary education in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray Regional State.
Since his childhood, Ebe’s passion was painting, making and fixing different materials, shaping and reshaping different statuettes using cartons even before school days. After he started formal education from scratch, painting, sculpture and other artistic activities attracted his attention. Then, Ebe continued shaping and reshaping, making and producing different simple gadgets using carton, wood and used metals.
As his village was located at the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea, he witnessed the 1999-2000 Ethio-Eritrea war during his childhood. During the war, military helicopters and jets were hovering over Ebe’s village. The helicopters and jets that flew over his rural village attracted Ebe’s attention and he started to think about the military helicopters. Still, Ebe had never seen the helicopters at a close range. But, he continued to think and started to make a helicopter using a carton and other simple used materials and metals and a dynamo as a motor that year for the first time.
Since then, for the past 23 years, Ebe continued working, modifying and developing his innovational idea to produce a helicopter.
Approached by The Ethiopian Herald, Ebe stated that his first product was just a simple sample product, but it lends him hope and energy to continue working. “I learnt from my first simple product that it is possible to produce a helicopter though I didn’t have the knowledge before. I continued working on making a helicopter and with better design, my second product was improved from the first one,” he stated.
His second product was more near to unmanned aerial vehicle (drone). After he completed the product, he tested it to see it fly. “During the test, the second product floated, but I couldn’t control it. While floating, it disappeared. I didn’t find it at that time and I started to produce another one for the third time,” he reiterated.
Ebe’s third trial was more improved than the previous products and during a pilot test; the third product also crushed during take-off and broken after its collision with a wall. “After these continuous efforts of trial and error, I learnt the hardest way that I have the capacity to produce a functional helicopter locally,” Ebe stated adding that he then stepped up his efforts. Though he doubled efforts and improved the materials during his fourth trial, the outcome was similar.
During the fifth round, he planned to build an improved and better helicopter that can carry one person to start a normal flight test. As he planned to produce just nearly normal helicopter, Ebe started to search how a helicopter is manufactured and tried to understand the materials used to produce a helicopter by manufacturers. After he identified the materials, he then started to gather aluminum and other basic materials and he used a fiber glass for the body.
His fifth product took four years. “It took me four years to complete the fifth product and it really was of a better quality than the previous ones. I decided to test it in a place open to the public as I was hopeful to make it fly,” he stated. Though the fifth version also failed to take-off it showed a significant improvement from the previous ones. It showed a promising progress of taking off, except minor errors.
Through this self-learning process by trial and error, he started again to produce his sixth product, which he showcased at the national aviation innovation competition. “I produced the current one during the Northern Ethiopia war and it was completed during the war,” Ebe stated adding that “taking lessons from the previous products, this one is the best model and was completed in 8 months.”
“I used fully standard material inputs necessary to produce an airplane and I produced a product that can fly. Yet still it needs some modifications and improvements just to put to use as a full-fledged product,” the first national aviation innovation competition winner said. The current product, according to Ebe, can be functional just with some material improvements and few adjustments. Currently, his helicopter can fly and stay in the space for three minutes with a pilot.
As to Ebe all parts, except the engine are produced and assembled by own capacity. “All the process including the structure of the body of the helicopter was assembled by me and the cost for the whole process so far was covered by my own personal income,” he stated. From his income, Ebe invested in electronics maintenance for the past over eight years and his innovational ideas are financed by the income he is earning from the electronics maintenance business.
Finally, Ebe’s helicopter product was selected and ranked first by judges during the national aviation innovation competition at the recent Aviation Innovation Expo and Ebe won 10,000 ETB as a winner. “The competition was tough as there were a lot of researchers and innovators from different parts of Ethiopia including from higher education institutions,” Ebe said adding that “competing with all the innovations in the sector, my product was selected by the judges.”
Beyond winning the competition, the experience, the lessons he got, the network with different manufacturers and researchers was very helpful for Ebe. “During the expo, I met different experts, professionals, company owners, manufacturers and other innovators that helped me to get new insights, knowledge and experiences.” In addition, Ebe stated that by the organizers of the expo, selected innovators were connected with different companies and Ebe was connected with Ethiopian Air Force to follow and support his innovation. “The Ethiopian Air Force also promised me to support my effort,” he added.
“I was struggling by myself since 2000 without any support, now, I will properly exploit the opportunity following the recent event,” he stated and he is seeking financial, material and technical supports to realize his dream.
In his electronics maintenance business, in addition to other electronics materials, Ebe is maintaining gold detector machine. Later, he modified the gold detector machine and produced a better one by his own, still waiting a patent right to produce more for market consumption. In addition, Ebe also produced a stone crushing machine.
Recently, Ebe has come up with a mini-tractor which already was used to plough his family’s agricultural field. For next, Ebe plans to modify the tractor to produce it with more functions including crop harvesting.
“The mini tractor provides plowing service using a fuel. For 12 hours, it consumes six litter of gas and in eight hours, it has the capacity of plowing one hectare of land. Still, I am modifying it to develop its capacity,” Ebe noted. As to him, within short period of time and collaborating with stakeholders including Tigray Agriculture Bureau, he plans to produce the mini tractor with affordable price for smallholder farmers.
“I have a lot of ideas that can improve the livelihoods of the rural society. If I find technical, material and financial supports, I will realize these innovations including an easy and modern irrigation system to tackle drought affected areas,” Ebe wrapped up. Continuous and meaningful support for such innovative, determined and talented youths can transform societies, ensure technology transfer and import substitution.
BY DARGIE KAHSAY
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 22 DECEMBER 2023
