Rocket's builder aims to achieve mach 2

University of Canterbury mechanical engineering student Lachlan Matchett with Sarah, the...
University of Canterbury mechanical engineering student Lachlan Matchett with Sarah, the supersonic rocket, which will be launched near Lake Ellesmere today. Photo supplied.
She's thin, 2.3m tall, fiery and quick to fly off the mark.

After several years of experimentation, some minor explosions and the singeing of a few eyebrows, former East Otago rocket scientist Lachlan Matchett will today carry out his first launch of a supersonic rocket - affectionately named Sarah.

With nothing more than a few spare car parts and a borrowed welder, Mr Matchett used to build turbo-based jet engines in his parents' garden shed in Palmerston, while still attending East Otago High School.

His early efforts were powerful enough to "barbecue a sausage", but not strong enough to power anything useful.

These days, the 21-year-old University of Canterbury mechanical engineering student is building far more powerful and sophisticated rockets, with the help of the University of Canterbury rocketry team.

As well as his fourth-year studies, Mr Matchett has spent the past year helping to build the university's first supersonic rocket.

"She was named Sarah after the girlfriend of one of the team members.

"It's a tradition. All our rockets are named after girlfriends."

Due to safety regulations, the team was not permitted to use its own engine. So an approved motor had to be brought in from the United States, he said.

"I didn't design the motor, but all the other moving mechanics, I did."

Weather permitting, Mr Matchett will co-ordinate a 10-man team which will launch the 2.3m rocket at Kaitorere, near Lake Ellesmere, this morning.

"It will be launched at an 8-degree angle out to sea. After 40 seconds, it will reach an apogee [its trajectory's highest point] of up to 9km.

"The aim is not [so much] to go high, it's designed to go supersonic.

"It will reach Mach 2 - that's about six rugby fields per second, or 2200kmh."

Mr Matchett said the whole flight would take less than four minutes, from launch to splashdown, and the rocket would be recovered at sea by the university's research vessel Rapaki.

While there would be plenty of excitement launching his first supersonic rocket, Mr Matchett said the launch was just the beginning of development.

"The rocket is giving the university the capability of launching high-speed, high-altitude rockets which can be used for research purposes."

Although building rockets was just a hobby, Mr Matchett said once he had completed his degree, he hoped to find a job in the aerospace industry.

"It's definitely a hobby which is building career prospects for me."

- john.lewis@odt.co.nz

 

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