Thunderbirds

The Thunderbirds are the six main machines of International Rescue. Each one is specially designed to fill a certain requirement in the organisation's operations and has a dedicated pilot from among the sons of Jeff Tracy and the inhabitants of Tracy Island, including Brains and Tin-Tin.

The machines

 * Thunderbird 1 is piloted by Scott Tracy. It is a hypersonic, atomic-powered rocket with retractable wings for travel at slower speeds within the atmosphere. Its purpose is to carry its pilot to the danger zone in as short a time as possible to assess the situation and establish a control centre for directing the rescue.
 * Thunderbird 2 is piloted by Virgil Tracy. It is a supersonic freight plane with a huge carrying capacity. Thunderbird 2 is the workhorse of International Rescue, generally used to transport any heavy equipment, along with the extra personnel, that may be needed to carry out the rescue.
 * Thunderbird 3 is piloted by Alan Tracy and John in monthly shifts, usually joined joined by Scott and Tin-Tin. It is a one-stage space rocket. Its main use is to transport replacement crew to Thunderbird 5, although it proves invaluable in performing any rescue missions that need to be conducted outside of Earth's atmosphere.
 * Thunderbird 4 is piloted by Gordon Tracy. It is a small, short-range submarine that needs to be transported by other craft to the danger zone, primarily in Pod 4 of Thunderbird 2. Its multiple tools grant it great flexibility in effecting rescues in aquatic environments.
 * Thunderbird 5 is piloted by John Tracy and Alan in monthly shifts. It is a manned space station in orbit of the Earth, containing the sensitive detection equipment that allows International Rescue to pick up any requests for help transmitted from anywhere on Earth.
 * Thunderbird 6 is a Tiger Moth Biplane that is mainly piloted by Brains and is improvised as a rescue vehicle. Although it is technologically inferior to the other Thunderbirds, it is still used in situations when the other craft are not suitable for the rescue.

2015 Reboot
Thunderbird Shadow is the little known stealth craft of the International Rescue fleet. It is piloted by Kayo.

Trivia

 * In the 1970's, Japanese company Imai marketed a model kit called Thunderbird 7. It was an amphibious mobile rocket launcher carried in Thunderbird 2.
 * The Japanese anime Thunderbirds 2086 featured 17 different Thunderbirds.