Thunderbird 2

Thunderbird 2 was the heavy-equipment transporter owned and operated by International Rescue. It was piloted by Virgil Tracy.

As its primary function was to transport other required equipment and technology to the danger zone, Thunderbird 2 had an active role in most rescue missions on Earth. The middle of the craft was hollow, allowing it to carry one of a selection of pods, each built for a variety of different rescue vehicles. Thunderbird 2 could also fly without any pod at all, meaning it could deposit the needed equipment at the danger zone and retreat to a safer place if necessary. Gordon regularly accompanied Virgil on his flights as Thunderbird 4, the submarine which he piloted, was unable to traverse land on its own and was usually transported in Pod 4. (TV: The Man from MI.5) When its capacity for heavy lifting was needed to rescue the stranded Thunderbird 3 on Venus, Virgil and Tin-Tin were able to install extra booster reactors to modify the craft for successful space flight, although these alterations severely hampered its thrust, speed and manoeuvrability. (COMIC: Solar Danger) It was also once reported that Thunderbird 2's pods were being adapted to act as animal cages. (PROSE: Thunderbird Two)

History
In account dated to January 1965, Thunderbird 2 was used to deliver Gordon and Thunderbird 4 to the danger zone so that he could locate the submarine of the criminals who kidnapped Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward. (TV: The Man from MI.5)

When alarms went off in the Torchwood Hub, Gwen Cooper had expected the imminent launch of Thunderbird 2, as if they were "some absurd warning of doom". Instead, the bells and sirens simply rang out like a missed call. (PROSE: Risk Assessment) In a TV 21 report dated 26 March 2066, it was believed that Thunderbird 2 had crashed. According to their radio monitoring system, Thunderbird 1 requested TB 2's help in the search for Doctor Adams and Tracy Island had acknowledged the request but nothing had been heard since. The article was accompanied by a photograph of a damaged Thunderbird 2 in its hangar. (PROSE: Thunderbird Two)

Reports from the Pacific on 7 May indicated that Thunderbird 2 had vanished again. Adding to the confusion, tracking stations reported an unidentified craft in orbit around the globe with TV 21 speculating that it could be the missing International Rescue vehicle. (PROSE: Destroy Space City)

During the heat crisis of 2066, Thunderbird 2 travelled to Space City to collect a planetomic missile, the most powerful bomb in the world, and transported it back to Tracy Island. After Thunderbird 3 was stranded on Venus, booster reactors were fitted to TB 2 in order to modify it for space travel. On the journey, a meteor shower blocked its flight plan. Virgil eventually managed to steer clear of the obstacles but the modifications necessary for the ship to be space-worthy ensured it was not long before they were hit. He and Gordon were thrown miles off course and sustained major damage to the winch motors, although Virgil did not discover this until after they arrived on Venus and had devised a plan of action with Scott and Brains. Scott insisted that they had to take the risk of too much strain on the outlet compensators causing a blow back; this future did come into fruition but by activating the radiation shields and with some help from Gordon in Thunderbird 4, Virgil was able to lift TB 3 from the sulphur lake. Virgil and Brains made sure TB 2 was safe before, two days later, all four Thunderbird craft on Venus set course for Earth. (COMIC: Solar Danger)

In June 2067, the Hood "triumphed" when he obtained photographs of Thunderbird 2 by crashing a massive passenger plane into the island. Soon after, newspapers across the world carried headlines exposing International Rescue and their base. Jeff Tracy appealed to TV 21 to combat the Hood's "stunning blow" and they did so by bringing its readers the story of Operation Cover-Up, a move being implemented to disguise the IR headquarters. (PROSE: Steve Zodiac Alive!)

By 2067, a front page featuring a photograph of Thunderbird 2 was stuck to the wall in the Fleet Street offices of TV 21. (COMIC: The Premonitions)

When the Fireflash Mk II was hijacked on its maiden flight in 2069, Thunderbird 2 and Thunderbird 1 were able to intercept the aircraft and force it down just inside the Bereznik border after following a signal from a tracking device in Jeff's luggage, who was aboard as a VIP passenger. However, it was believed the hijacker had arranged a rendezvous at the border and so the Fireflash itself soon became "a fortress heavily defended by machine gun fire" with the two Thunderbirds standing sentinel alongside. The demands of the hijackers, who were in cahoots with the Hood, were for all four Thunderbird craft plus their designer and fifty billion dollars. If these specifications were not met it was suspected they planned to deliberately explode the atomic reactor of the Fireflash. (PROSE: Stalemate!)