Which Is Your Favorite Thunderbird?

Monster-Mat · November 12, 2002

mine is number 2

JOHNNY-BOY · November 12, 2002

I like Parker

Monster-Mat · November 12, 2002

hmmmmmm,looks a bit like you johnny....in a couple of years anyway

JOHNNY-BOY · November 12, 2002

Cheers Mat, I've felt for some time now that somebody has been pulling my strings

The red areas on No.2 seem to remind me of you in some strange way

Jimmy Ten Toes · November 12, 2002

That is definitely an HKS Hiper Muffler on No.2!!

Monster-Mat · November 12, 2002

....................but which is your favorite Tim

Random Fiesta owner · November 12, 2002

Thunderbird 5 would have been the best bachelor pad ever!

(this one fiesta...mat) B)

Steve · November 12, 2002

its better when the tv is off when the program is on.

How any could watch that load of toilet beats me.

Monster-Mat · November 12, 2002

tracey islands the best pad ever................

Random Fiesta owner · November 12, 2002

Tracey Island was cool, but too many interuptions for saving the world. Thunderbird 5 was a little more secluded being in space and all! :P

Monster-Mat · November 12, 2002

yeah.......got to kinda agree,but think you get there and realise..............you forgot your toothbrush....bit of a pain really,

Random Fiesta owner · November 12, 2002

Would not impress the ladies if you forgot your toothbrush!!!

Make sure you keep spares up there!!!

Jimmy Ten Toes · November 12, 2002

OK has to be 3 then, check out the engine!!

Power Plant

Nuclear reactor for main power, situated aft. Three particle drive engines, generating continuous ion thrust. The three field coils radiate out every 120° and supply the particle guns, which fire ions at near-lightspeed down tubes passing through the main engine cluster. Chemical booster rockets, situated in farings aft, for assisting take-off and vertical landing. Ring of retro-firing rockets situated in annular faring above the 32 heat exchanger vanes.

Random Fiesta owner · November 12, 2002

What BHP is it running?

Monster-Mat · November 12, 2002

yeah but thunderbird 2 is better...............

Thunderbird 2 is International Rescue's giant freighter aircraft. Its purpose is to carry all the rescue equipment to the danger zone. The equipment is contained in one of six interchangeable pods, which contain machinery like Thunderbird 4, the Mole, Firefly, the Elevator Cars and the IR3 Transmitter truck. Piloted by Virgil Tracy, this 250foot long green behemoth travels at a cruising speed of 2000mph at 60,000ft. It is powered in flight by four tail-plane mounted turbojets, whilst the red booster rockets enable TB2 to take off from Tracy Island and four VTOL jets allow easy landing at a danger zone.

The pod equipment is accessed when TB2 raises itself upon four hydraulic legs. The pod door then acts as an access ramp, allowing the rescue vehicle to be driven (or launched) out easily. TB2 also features living quarters, an astrodome for air-to-air rescue and armaments for demolition purposes. An escape unit and magnetic grabs are other important features.

Launch:

When TB2 is required on a rescue, pilot Virgil Tracy stands up against a rocket painting adjacent to his father's desk. The painting then tips Virgil up onto a padded slide which sends him down the launch chute head first. The slide then swivels, sending Virgil down the chute feet first into the TB2 cockpit. When his feet hit the footplate at the end of the chute, the slide forms into a chair and the chute retracts. Virgil is in his uniform by the time any passengers arrive via the launch chute.

A conveyor belt of six pods then moves beneath TB2, when the desired pod is beneath, the conveyor stops and TB2 squats down on the pod, which locks in place magnetically. The cliff face then retracts, and a concrete drawbridge falls, allowing TB2 access to the runway. TB2's 180ft wingspan would require a noticeably wide runway, so the palm trees which line the runway droop back. TB2 then taxies along the runway to a concealed launch ramp, where it stops before being tilted at a 30 degree angle. A secondary ramp then raises to cover any blast marks and the red boosters burst into life, sending TB2 on it's way.

TB2 lands by cruising over the runway before turning 180 degrees in mid air, then using the VTOL jets to land. TB2 then taxies back into the hanger and the launch sequence is reversed.

Opinion:

TB2 is the most popular Thunderbirds craft, and with good reason. It's huge size and bug-like looks give it an anarchic beauty far removed from the sleek silver lines of Thunderbird 1. It is seen in all bar one episode, a tribute to it's sheer versatility. From transporting rescue equipment, TB2 is also used to carry errant construction trucks, to stop a runaway cable car and to literally knock an incoming satellite off course. All its features are regularly seen and its launch sequence is arguably the best, and most memorable scene in any television series, even imitated in films like "Wallace & Gromit". In my view, the launch seems like an evolution of the one seen in "Stingray". The fact it is seen in all but one TV episode underlines the fact that TB2 is the powerhouse of International Rescue, "Terror In New York City" being a case in point, where a simple rescue becomes a frantic race against time due to TB2 being out of action. Indeed, the crash-landing on Tracy Island is one of the most memorable scenes in any Thunderbirds story.

Thunderbird 2's massive size and power, and its futuristic lines contrast strongly with the variety of Pod Vehicles which emerge from the bowels of the ship, which have a far more rugged appearance. Overall, Thunderbird 2 is the seminal vehicle of Thunderbirds, the one that everyone remembers. And it represents everything that was good about the show.

Jimmy Ten Toes · November 12, 2002

never dyno'd I don't think

Monster-Mat · November 12, 2002

i think the TB2 is running at onehundredmillionsquilliontrillion and a hundred bhp :duh:

Jimmy Ten Toes · November 12, 2002

yeah but..

Thunderbird 3 is International Rescue's bright red-orange spaceship, designed for space rescues and as a shuttle and maintanance craft to International Rescue's space station, Thunderbird 5. TB3 is the biggest of all the Thunderbird machines, standing 287 feet high. The rocket sits on three huge supports in a silo beneath the Round House on Tracy Island, and chemical rockets fire the craft up through the middle of the building quickly up to an escape velocity of 25 200mph.

TB3 usually has a crew of two, meaning astronaut Alan Tracy is usually accompanied by Scott on a mission or on a journey to Thunderbird 5, where John and Alan spend one month at a time on duty, although Scott has been known to man the satellite as well.

Along with TB2, TB3 is one of the few craft in which all five Tracy brothers, plus Brains and Tin-Tin can be seen to have travelled in.

Launch:

When TB3 is required on a rescue, the required crew sit on the settee facing Jeff Tracy's desk. The settee is then lowered into an underground chamber and as it is lowered, so an identical duplicate rises to replace it. When the settee reaches the bottom of the chamber, it is attached to a trolley, which carries the settee into the TB3 silo. An hydraulic ram raises the settee up through the heart of the rocket, before stopping in the onboard lounge. The ram retracts and Alan travels by internal elevator up into the cockpit. The rockets then explode into life and TB3 is fired skywards and into space.

B)

Monster-Mat · November 12, 2002

that is true tim,but...............

Thunderbird 2 is arguably the most unique of all the Thunderbird craft, certainly the appearance is at once ultra-futuristic and believable. As fantastic as it is, it looks like it can do the things it does - it looks massive, has massive engines to propel it at the required speeds and has enough functional 'non-sleek' intakes and bumps that it looks functional. I loved the fact that they used it for things like fixing the antenna in "Attack of the Alligators" and for the Treasure Hunt in "Desperate Intruder". Great credit to the Model Makers and Effects Photographers and 'puppeteers' who always made the ship look right...it moved like a big ship, and was always shot to look huge and powerful.

As a side note the original model of the ship (wrecked in the "Terror in New York City" crash) and featured in the launch sequence as well as several earlier episodes, is by far the best looking. Later models appeared squatter and less refined in the detail of the finish (a natural by-product of the intense shooting schedules). Even the model featured in the movies - whilst a great model - is to me, a less appealing shape