Lego jet engine

Rolls-Royce unveil their half size replica of Trent 1000 at the Farnborough International Airshow

Rolls-Royce have unveiled the world's first jet engine to be made entirely of Lego. The engine is a half size replica of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 which powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

A team of graduates and apprentices from Rolls-Royce worked with the company Bright Bricks, to produce the complex structure. They built over 160 separate engine components which were then joined together in order to replicate the jet engine, showing off its complex inner workings.

Every component - from the large fan blades which suck air into the engine down to the combustion chambers where fuel is burned - had to be analysed and replicated using the building bricks.

Lego jet engine facts:

• It took four graduates and apprentices eight weeks to complete
• The structure is made from 152,455 Lego bricks
  
• It weighs 307 kg
• It is over 2 metres long and 1.5 metres wide

The engine is part of a display in the Innovation Zone at Farnborough International Airshow, an area designed to engage young people in science, technology, engineering and maths.

• Farnborough International Airshow is taking place on the weekend of 14 and 15 July. To find out more and to book tickets see www.farnborough.com