Tracy Island is the home of now-retired billionaire businessman and ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, and his extended family. (It's also the secret base and operational headquarters of the life-saving organization he founded, International Rescue.) Its location, somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean, is top secret.
History[]
Jeff decided that the island - along with its smaller neighbor, Mateo Island - would be the ideal location for his plans to run IR with the help of his five sons. Uppermost in his mind, was that the islands would be as secluded as possible; and large enough to incorporate the launch pads and hangars of the fleet, rescue equipment and maintenance facilities and a laboratory for IR's lead engineer Brains, as well as the family home, known as Tracy Villa.
Design[]
Everything on both Tracy and Mateo Islands was built from scratch, and to the highest of Jeff's exacting standards. Taking into account that visitors outside of the organization would have to be catered for at some point, the ability to camouflage and keep secret the operational side was paramount to its overall design.
Inside and out, the island and its natural and man-made structures have the ability to switch looks at the touch of a button, as needs require: palm trees change position, interior walls and pictures rotate et al. In a matter of moments, the luxuriously-appointed Villa assumes its true purpose as IR's command-and-control post...or conceals it, from anyone not authorized to see!
Hidden away, in the island's interior, are the hangars of the four main Thunderbirds:
Thunderbird 1 - rapid-response swing-wing rocket plane - is housed below-ground, and is launched from beneath the swimming pool in front of the family home.
Thunderbird 2 - heavy-duty cargo-carrier - is kept in a hangar behind a fake-rock face below the Cliff House; where palm trees along the runway swerve to either side, allowing safe clearance for TB2's wingspan.
Thunderbird 3 - single-stage-to-orbit spaceship - is launched through the opening of the Round House, located elsewhere on the island away from the main house.
Thunderbird 4 - high-tech mini-submarine - while normally carried in its own pod by Thunderbird 2, can also be made operational from TB2's hangar, by means of a camouflaged slipway that deposits it into the sea. (This was seen in the episode Terror in New York City, where TB2 was out of action.)
And:
Thunderbird 5 - Earth-orbiting space-station - TB5, the fifth of IR's fleet, circles Earth in geosynchronous orbit relative to Tracy Island; serving as IR's 24/7 listening post, alert for calls for help from anyone, anywhere.
Trivia[]
- The style and design of the Round House is very similar in shape and size to Thunderbird 5
- The TV show was re-run in 1992 on BBC2 which lead to a shortage of models. Blue Peter, another BBC program, demonstrated how to construct Tracy Island. Blue Peter itself was overwhelmed with request for copies of the instructions.
Image[]
Here's how Tracy Island appeared in the 2004 live-action film Thunderbirds (based on the real-life North Island, located in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles!)
Read More...[]
Tracy Island on Thunderbirds Wiki: https://thunderbirds.fandom.com/wiki/Tracy_Island