Thunderbirds stats

[Zone Fighter]

The following is classified Top Secret by International Rescue:

(taken from Thunderbirds series disc 12)

Thunderbird 1 top speed 15,000 mph, power source: automic fusion reactor

Thunderbird 2 top speed 5,000 mph, power source: automic fusion reactor

Thunderbird 3 max. sustainable acceleration 6 g, power source: automic fusion reactor

Thunderbird 4 cruising speed surface 40 knots, cruising speed underwater 160 knots, max depth 30,000 ft, power source: automic fusion reactor

Thunderbird 5 power source: automic batteries

There is more on the dvd, such as length, width, weight of each Thunderbird and Fab1 (the pink rolls)


Jeff Tracy founder International Rescue born January 2, 2009
former USAF colonel and astronaut (retired to raise sons after death of wife), civil engineer, founded International Rescue after 80 people killed in accident

Scott Tracy pilot Thunderbird 1 born April 4, 2039
as pilot of Thunderbird 1 studies the situation and determines best course of action, undertakes all missions except when substituting for father at mission control (in which case brother Alan pilots Thunderbird 1), former USAF officer

John Tracy space monitor: Thunderbird 5 born October 8, 2040
alternating 30 days shifts on Thunderbird 5 with brother Alan, author of 4 books on astronomy, discover of Tracy Quasar System

Virgil Tracy pilot Thunderbird 2 born August 15, 2041
as pilot of Thunderbird 2 undertakes all missions, expert mechanic, passionate artist and pianist

Gordon Tracy aquanaut: Thunderbird 4 born February 1, 2043
Olympic champion swimmer, avid scuba diver and water skier, before father founded International Rescue he served in Submarine Service and World Aquanuat Security Patrol (from "Stingray")

Alan Tracy pilot Thunderbird 3 born March 12, 2044
raced automobiles before father founded International Rescue, alternates with brother John as Space Monitor in Thunderbird 5, romantically involved with Tin-Tin Kyrano

All Tracys are college educated.

Brains engineer for International Rescue born November 14, 2040
invented International Rescue's aircraft and other equipment, an orphan, sometimes uses alias Hiram K. Hackenbacker but real name unknown

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, London agent for International Rescue born December 24, 2039
former government agent, joined International Rescue at request of Jeff Tracy

Aloysios Parker butler and chauffer (FAB1) to Lady Penelope born May 30, 2013
Parker comes from a long line of safecrackers, caught in the act by Lady Penelope he accepted her offer of a job and assistants her on all her missions for International Rescue

Tin-Tin Kyrano assists Brains and acts as Jeff Tracy's secretary born June 20, 2043
licensed pilot, Jeff Tracy paid for her education (wasn't clear to me whether she returned Alan's feelings for her or not)

Kyrano chef to Tracys birth date unknown
Tin-Tin's father, half brother of "The Hood" can be hypnotised by his brother and become an unknowing spy against International Rescue

The Hood international spy and theif born July 17, 2018
master of disguise,uses black magic to control his half brother Kyrano, has hypnotic eyes. schemes to steal secrets of International Rescue, their only real enemy.

The dvd did not have any information on grandma Tracy.

The series is supposed to be set in 2065 so that makes Jeff Tracy 56, his eldest son 26, his youngest 21. The way his brothers treat Alan I figured he be younger than that.

The Tracys are Americans. This was probably to sell the series to the US, unfortunantly it did not work after only 6 episodes of the 2nd season had been aired it was cancled because no American network picked it up. Both movies were box office disapointments. Thunderbirds was extremly popular in Japan. Now considered a classic.

Like the previous series Thunderbirds was originally intended to be 30 minute stories. The name Thunderbirds comes from Thunderbird Field in Arizona. Gerry Anderson got the idea for the series after hearing a radio news report of a mine colapse in Germany which trapped 300 minors.

[August]

I used to watch THUNDERBIRDS as a kid -- THUNDERBIRDS were shown in America, because of the success of previous Gerry Anderson titles such as SUPERCAR, FIREBALL XL-5 and STINGRAY, which were popular in America (these where shown on network television). After the smoke from the network bidding war over THUNDERBIRDS, the series was eventually distributed through United Artists via syndication.

All of the episodes were shown in the US, syndicated in two packages: half-hour and one-hour presentations. I remember watching most of the episodes of THUNDERBIRDS as a child, and while I remember THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO! was released in US theaters (I had a 22x28 half-sheet from the US release), I don't recall THUNDERBIRD 6 getting a theatrical release.

The producer, Sir Lew Grade was also notorious with cancelling the production of Gerry Anderson shows, not because they weren't popular, but because he would tire of them and wanted to move onto a new series. He did the same with CAPTAIN SCARLET (arguably the best Supermarionation show produced by Anderson). Grade also pulled the same number on UFO, even though CBS in America (who distributed the show to its affiliates), requested more episodes -- Grade had already put SPACE: 1999 into motion (which was syndicated through NBC affilates in the States).

In the early 1980s, Anderson make several compilation movies from his color series, which were heavily rotated on the Showtime cable network, and were released on VHS in the States. In the 1990s, there was a short-lived "hipped-up" version of THUNDERBIRDS, with added techno soundtrack shown on Fox Kids (or Kids' WB), which also flopped -- because it was gawd-awful.

[Xenorama ™]

i saw the movie in the mid-70s at a matinee full of kids, all of whom seemed to enjoy it. i don't recall it ever being on tv. my first memories of the Thunderbirds came from a coloring book i had. i never saw the show, and was surprised they were puppets.

i love the movie, and enjoy all the supermarionation shows that i've seen.

[RedKing]

I love all of Gerry Anderson's shows (or most of them anyways) and managed to get the DVD sets of SUPERCAR, FIREBALL XL 5, STINGRAY, THUNDERRBIRDS, CAPTAIN SCARLET and UFO. THUNDERBIRDS and UFO are my favorites. As a kid, well teen actually, I remember watching TERRAHAWKS and i liked it, but that's probably Anderson's worst show and of course i saw SPACE 1999 as a kid, but that show never did much for me for some reason.