KEY POINTS:
If someone told Lachlan Matchett rocket science was difficult, the East Otago High School pupil wasn't listening.
With nothing more than a few spare car parts and a borrowed welder, Lachlan, 17, built a jet engine in his parents' garden shed.
He built his first turbo-based LPG-fuelled jet engine this year, using information from the internet and library books.
"It's centred around a turbo out of a standard car, and I built a combustor and a flame tube myself. It's simple to manufacture the parts - anyone with a welder can do it."
Lachlan said the jet engine was powerful enough to "barbecue a sausage" but not strong enough to power "anything useful". "It's small, but it sounds just like a jet aeroplane engine."
He said his neighbours might have been concerned had they known where the bursts of thunder were coming from on clear and sunny days.
Certainly, his mother was. "Mum worries about me blowing up the house. I'm not allowed to bring any of the stuff anywhere near the house. There is an element of danger there and I do keep a fire extinguisher at hand."
In fact, the engine "blew up" two weeks ago. No one was injured and Lachlan still has his eyebrows.
Rather than repairing the propulsion system, he is designing a diesel-powered, centrifugal-flow turbine jet engine, which will be three times more powerful - enough to propel a go-kart.
In his goal-setting, Lachlan is literally shooting for the stars. He wants to become an aerospace engineer and already has the route to succeed plotted.
He plans to study astronomy and mechanical engineering at Canterbury University next year, then travel overseas to study the dynamics and principals of aerospace engineering.
Some see him as the next Burt Munro, but Lachlan is modest about his achievements. "Burt Munro? It sounds flattering, but ... it's not me."
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
