Thunderbirds Rescue Vehicles Idea

[Cobra]

Hey Guys,i was Surfing Google when an Idea came to me, What If some Newer,More Advanced Vehicles were used by International Rescue for Roles that they Didn't Consider before?  i have 3 Ideas:first Thunderbird 7,a Heavy Lift,Long Range Helijet for Rescues from Drilling Platforms,Cruise Ships in Distress,Etc.  Second Idea:Thunderbird 8, a Twin Hulled Heavy Response for Sea/Coastal Hovercraft,  thidr Idea:Thunderbird 9, a Deep Diving,more Advanced Submarine to Help in Cases where Thunderbird 4 Can't go or Isn't Available. these are All Inspired by the Original Thunderbirds TV Series.  What Do You think? Thanks for looking.Dan

[raafif]

you'll have to re-number sonme of those, Cobra.

Thunderbird 7 already exists ...

[Weaver]

Well Thunderbird 2 seemed able to hover well enough, so it would cover the long-range helijet role, and the problem with the hovercraft is Thunderbird's global role: all their kit has to be get anywhere in the world in a matter of hours, hence why it's all packed into advanced aircraft.

I think the bigger submarine idea has mileage: Thunderbird 4 was WAY smaller than it's pod, so there's room for something more like a DSRV with a docking collar and significant passenger capacity. You could also easily imagine the Thunderbirds world having submarine passenger liners, sight-seeing vessels, undersea mining vessels etc., all of which might need rescuing.

Being JMN for a moment, the weakness of the International Rescue concept is that it's based around a very particular kind of rescue, i.e. a few people trapped in a situation that's responsive to a technological solution. Present them with a earthquake-hit city with thousands of people trapped in the rubble and they wouldn't know where to start (and their contribution would be minimal due to their small numbers). They're a bit like the disaster-relief equivalents of Agatha Christie's detectives: always presented with a nice, limited selection of suspects in a limited environment, like a game of Cluedo. Give them a stabbing in a back alley in the middle of a city of a million suspects and they'd be lost.

[Mossie]

Back many moons ago when I touted the Gerry Anderson GB, I had similar ideas for Thunderbirds 7 & 8.  I felt that the Thunderbirds lacked a surface vessel but it wouldn't be able to respond on time.  Thunderbird 7 would be a carrier aircraft for Thunderbird 8, doubling up as a SAR aircraft & backup for T2.  Thunderbird 8 would be a Catamaran, possibly able to launch T4 & small surface craft as well as being a recovery platform.  They'd launch from a boat house at the rear of Tracy Island.

[Weaver]

If they had to search a wide area they'd be stuck, since however good T1 and T2 are, they can only be in two places at once. So how about a T2 pod full of drone search aircraft, with radar and cameras, that can be sent off under T1's control?

[Mossie]

IR did have remote cameras:
http://davidszondy.com/future/Thunderbirds/remote_camera.htm

[raafif]

IR did have remote cameras:
http://davidszondy.com/future/Thunderbirds/remote_camera.htm

some great screen-grabs there of IR vehicles and the doomed ones too !

[Weaver]

IR did have remote cameras:
http://davidszondy.com/future/Thunderbirds/remote_camera.htm

Yes, but they're hovering things that move slowly and (I guess) have little range. More suitable for surveying a few buildings than 1000 sq.miles of ocean.

What I had in mind were something more like modern surveillance UAVs, but with a "Very Gerry" styling job. Maybe you could have them containerised in twin or triple packs on a funky tracked launch vehicle, with more in the T2 pod. They fire out of the pod like rockets then unfold telescopic swing wings and cruise around like mini-Barnes-Wallis Swallows. The same T2 pod could have a landing vehicle which works like the Fireflash elevator cars: it rolls along at just above the drone's stalling speed, and the drone then drops onto a suspended pad on top of it (of course, there will always be a convenient stretch of empty road for it to operate on... )

The drones would provide a real, logical function, with just enough implausiblity and special-pleading to make them feel like "proper" Thunderbirds hardware....