Building a jet engine, all in a day's work

Peacehaven Village resident (96) Lex McRae once set himself a somewhat remarkable challenge – to build a jet engine.  As you do.

“It seemed like a nice little project.”

In fact, he has built two jet engines, albeit not jumbo in size.

“I just bought a book and followed the instructions.

“It was not particularly difficult to build, although it did require a lot of precision.”

Admittedly, Lex does have a background in engineering and all things electrical, but still, it is still quite a feat.

Lex said one of his brothers was a model plane enthusiast at the time, so they planned his brother would build a model plane and Lex would fit it with a jet engine.

Although his brother lost interest in the project before it could be realised, Lex powered through and within two years had built his first jet engine.

It was supposed to power up to 85,000 RPM.  However, on testing it, the engine only got to 65,000 RPM before the compressor wheel disintegrated, he said.

The reason to build a second engine? 

 “I wanted to see if I could improve on the first.”

However, he has never gotten around to testing it. 

“The fun was in the making.”

The engines now sit in pride of place ….in his garage