International Rescue Thunderbirds: TB1-TB5, Tracy Island and Associated Rescue Vehicles

I have had this series on VHS for years and years, and the complete series on dvd for a few years. When I found this book on Amazon I was over joyed and could not wait for it to arrive. I was not disappointed by the purchase, and was amazed by the detail any of this type of technical manuals or blueprints one can buy for this king of series. This book explains every detail of life of the Tracy family, how the dream was created, Tracy Island, each of the Thunderbirds, secondary vehicles, global operations, five pages of mission files and lastly a security alert. TRACY ISLAND (Jeff Tracy) - Jeff spent over 20 years building up his corporation from a humble agricultural machinery manufacturer to a global aerospace, engineering construction empire. Because his wife was killed in a preventable accident, he invented suitable rescue equipment. He reasoned that he had to establish a well concealed base to house the organization, and as the Tracy Corporation had found a strong mineral ore called 'Cahelium X' he could retire from public life to run the Thunderbirds. Sir Jermey Hodge developed new fuel and propulsion methods, and with his contacts in Europe, Sir Jermey arranged the manufacture of secret vital components. Wilbur Dandridge carried out the construction of Tracy Island with a minimal workforce, while Jeff's sons took on the job of the rescue missions. After a lecture, Jeff placed his faith in a nervous speaker who is known simply as 'Brains', who applied his extraordinary talents into the innovative vision required to build the Thunderbirds. Agents were recruited and placed in positions around the world and given devices that James Bond would die for. Everything in place and ready to go Jeff Tracy's dream was about to begin, and the rest is now logged into history forever. TRACY ISLAND (Grandma) - Senior household adviser and adopted mother of Jeff Tracy. TRACY ISLAND (Kyrano) - Household manager. He left society after being deprived of an inheritance and went to live in Indo-China, where he saved the life of Jeff Tracy. Jeff got him a job at the Kennedy Space Centre, whereafter jobs around the world, he rejoined the Tracy family. TRACY ISLAND (Tin-Tin) - The daughter of Kyrano, grew up with the Tracys while her father worked at the Kennedy Space Centre. After a worldly education, she was on an airplane in the very first International Rescue mission. She became a technical adviser and administrative assistant for the Tracys. TRACY ISLAND (Brains) - Only his closest friends knew his real name, so I am sorry I cannot divulge his name to anyone. He became a designer and scientific adviser after his adopted father (a professor from Cambridge) found him at the age of 12. At the age of 18 he met Jeff Tracy after a lecture on advanced theoretical design. TRACY ISLAND (Other Details) - Tracy villa, TB1 launch bay, TB2 hangar, TB2 pod bay, TB2 launch ramp, TB3 couch transit, TB3 launch silo, additional facilities and Mateo Island. Each of the Thunderbirds gets top billing in this book as they are pulled apart from top to bottom, with each section explained to the full. THUNDERBIRDS #1 - The pilot (Scott Tracy), overview, cockpit, propulsion and equipment. THUNDERBIRDS #2 - The pilot (Virgil Tracy), overview, propulsion and engines, flight deck, equipment deck, and 2 of the 5 pods used with it. THUNDERBIRDS #3 - The pilot (Adam Tracy), overview, propulsion and power. THUNDERBIRDS #4 - The pilot (Gordon Tracy), overview, cockpit and pod #4 of 4 used with it. THUNDERBIRDS #5 - Maned by (John Tracy and Alan as backup), overview and docking bay. SECONDARY VEHICLES - Devised special rescue vehicles that carried out otherwise impossible tasks. Of the 116 vehicles 18 are shown and 15 are detailed fully. GLOBAL OPERATIONS (London, England - Lady Penelope and driver Aloysius Parker) - The FAB1 car, the driver, overview, equipment and rear compartment. GLOBAL OPERATIONS - (London, England - Lady Penelope), The FAB2 yacht, and overview. MISSION FILES (Detailed information on each mission) - Danger zone, notification process, grounds for action, mission operatives, equipment deployed, mission report, lives saved, and a few had also additional information. SECURITY ALERT - We all know while there is money to be made from terrorism worldwide it will continue. There is one mastermind called 'Karl' who was captured during one International Rescue mission. But, by far, the most dangerous individual comes under the melodramatic name of 'The Hood'. Any sightings of this global menace should immediately be made to International Rescue headquarters. As with other highly developed series that Gerry Anderson created, this book maps out the world of Jeff Tracy in a richly illustrated and authentic way. The rolls that each member of the Tracy family, and devoted friends, play in the life of the Thunderbirds. The technical illustrations are large enough to understand and read, with each person's roll associated with the illustration. Whether the technical aspect of the series holds up to today as it did in the 1960s is not debatable. What I say is: If the human mind could think up a world as such as this in the 1960s, why is it not a reality 50 years later. Each aspect of the illustrations are explained and 15 of the secondary vehicles are explained in detail. No Thunderbird fan would be disappointed in choosing to obtain this 135 page book, and if it was possible to give it ten stars I would, but it gets five anyway.

I thoroughly enjoy this series of books by Haynes, and this may be the best one yet. I watched the Thunderbirds as a young child in the 60's and 70's on TV. I liked that the characters were marionettes and the sets were real, models, but real. It was a nice change from the animated fair of the time. But I really loved all the machinery. I would recreate a bunch of the machines with my Legos. I would love to watch this series again. I wonder if it is streamed here? Sorry, this is about the book. Buy it if you ever watched the show. The cutaways alone are worth the price. There is a nice amount of background information that is provided about the family in a kind of PR Release manner, befitting the style of the book. But the real reason to have to have this book is the art work and pictures. And those cutaways, they are exquisite. I am going to have to seek out more cutaway work by Graham Bleathman as he captured the look and feel of these machines perfectly. I can spend hours pouring over these drawings with a magnifying glass (middle aged eyes not a knock on the publishing quality). It looks like the drawings could be polished up a bit, some engineering numbers crunched and all this stuff could be built and it would work. Makes me want to look for an island somewhere.

OK, I'll start with the fact that while I enjoyed the stories, I LOVED the ships (Thunderbird 2 my favorite!) and the antique 'advanced' tech from the early 1960s. This book I would have probably looked at way back then, but now I can really enjoy it with the detail involved in the making of it. Creating how these ships could look and work if it was ever possible for them actually be built, and make it look even possible to build them in the diagrams included. All the equipment I recall, and see as yes I have the DVDs of the original series is in this very comprehensive manual. If you're like me, a fan reliving a treasured memory of youth when imagination counted for a lot, I'd say get it!

I was expecting even MORE detail of the Thunderbird 2 leviathan!! One of the most (if not THE most) popular of all the Thunderbird craft, this book does give LOADS of detail regarding the inner workings and design of popular TB2. I would have preferred more detailed photographs of the craft though as I am someday looking to build a replica model of her. The schematics are good yes, but again, more detail could have been provided by expanding coverage of each separate section, or even sections of sections. I guess with something this 'big' though, there is only so much room in a book available, but therein lay the whole problem. I thought the book would be TWICE as thick as this!! This is really just a glossary and more of a gimmick approach. Nonetheless it is entertaining and gives an insight as to the amazing imagination of its creator, the late great, Gerry Anderson.

This is one of the best books in recent years for this TV series created by Gerry Anderson. The black & white and color illustrations are terrific, and the text is detailed and informative. This was clearly a labor of love, from fans to fans. If you want a primer on THUNDERBIRDS, I would recommend this book. My friends in England (from where the TV series originated from) have nothing but high praise for this book. It should be noted that this is not a repair shop manual on the vehicles of International Rescue. If you want to see what makes these fantastic, iconic vehicles tick, it has cutaways in color and black & white. Now, I would like to see a volume on the TV series UFO (hint, hint).

It's Great. But I want to know in detail more ,more,more,.......&more.

Pour les fans des Thunderbirds, une magnifique revue technique (en anglais) de la flotte des Sentinelles de l'Air. Un fabuleux ouvrage que mon fils de 10 ans adore lire et détailler avec passion ! Haynes a eu l'humour necessaire, le délire et le sérieux pour réaliser un tel ouvrage.

Veramente molto dettagliato e ben fatto. Se vi è piaciuta la seria è un acquisto molto consigliato. Haynes è un garanzia, non ho mai visto un libro fatto da loro che non fosse impeccabile.

Pour les collectionneurs et fans des Sentinelles de l'Air. Livre tres détaillé

I had bought an older Thunderbirds cut-a-way book illustrated by Graham Bleathman and thought it was an excellent book, full of colour and brought the machines, Tracy Island and Lady Penelope's manor house to life. Then I heard about this book. Haynes are well known for their car manuals, but lately they have been producing material based on Star Wars and Star Trek. The exposed TB2 on the cover was enough for me to say YES and bought it. If you enjoyed the previous cut-a-way books on Thunderbirds and other Gerry Anderson mecha then you will love this. Not only are the main five craft covered in detail, but so is every pod vehicle and Tracy Island. There are also character profiles, a history of International Rescue and a wealth of colour photos. The drawings are in both colour and monochrome, but all show Mr Bleathman's amazing detail work. As a Thunderbirds fan this is a magnificent book and will be well-thumbed before the week is out. Now, can we get others from Fireball XL5, Stingray and Captain Scarlet? They each have plenty of material to fill out a book like this.