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Chrisofedf β Fireflash 2
#chris #fireflash #thompson #thunderbirdsarego #thunderbirds
Published: 2015-09-16 22:16:45 +0000 UTC; Views: 11905; Favourites: 200; Downloads: 258
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Description
One of the big questions when Thunderbirds are go was announced was would the "worlds most unsafe Passenger plane" make a comeback.For those not in the know, Fireflash made its debut in the first episode of classic Thunderbirds, it was a massive supersonic nuclear powered ( has a reactor that will kill everyone onboard if its not serviced every 5 hours) airliner and made several appearances in the series, in total 3 crash throughout the course of the show and they very nearly loose a fourth.
When it came to the new show the designers have clearly taken a different approach to the design of Fireflash, Whereas the original was a huge huge retro type thing, the new one is quite conservative and takes a lot of inspiration of current concepts for futuristic passenger planes. It's also pretty small reflecting the current trend of smaller more fuel efficient jets as opposed to slower larger planes.
I have to say it really has grown on me with the only downside being the rather un-aerodynamic cockpit.Β
It's been a long week of working and doing odd-jobs for people, figured i'd have fun with something for once
Made in blender
Vue 10
Photoshop
No Passengers where lost in the production of this image.
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Comments: 22
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Looks like Fireflash is becoming a reality.
Real life Thunderbirds Fireflash in the works:iconDoctorWhoOne: Hi guy's. We may not yet be living in 2065, the year the original Thunderbirds TV series was set, but it seems a well known aircraft from it maybe becoming a reality
It seems, according to this interesting story from the Sun newspaper website, that Nasa is going to develope a 'quiet' supersonic plane that has no windows for it's cockpit, and can get you from London to New York in just 4 hours.
It's said to be capable of travelling at a speed of 940mph, at least 1.4 times the speed of sound. In comparison to the supersonic atomic airliner Fireflash, that craft could travel at 6 times the speed of sound, with a top speed of 4567 mph [7200 kmh], so it seems the fictional craft can go way faster then what Nasa maybe about to create.
Fireflash was introduced in the original Thunderbirds pilot episode 'Trapped in the Sky'. It later made further appearances in the original series in the episodes 'Operation Crash-Dive', 'The Imposters', 'The Duchess Assignme
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It doesn't need maintenance every 5 hours the pilot just said "it's due for maintenance in 5 hours"
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It looks horrible in my opinion (the design not the picture _
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"No passengers were lost in the production of this image" ππππππππππ
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The new Fireflash design has grown on me a little (partly due to your great art) But i agree about the cockpit, it would be like placing a huge concrete slab on an otherwise quite aero-dynamic design.
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The original Fireflash is only retro in our eyes now. At the time of original broadcast, mid-60s, it was right inline with the near-future/supertech sci-fi look of the period. That's look is one of the reasons I so enjoy that show. But absolutely, time to update things to keep them cutting edge in the here and now.
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Chris you know the deficiencies of this design (most were established in the '70's) and as always it's great to see your designs.
But...and it's a big butt!
Gerry worked from a 36 to 60's concept for his vehicles (and he didn't have the same insight Frank Hampson did into rocket/nuclear potential).
You use blender quite prolifically in your great images but by the name of that program I urge you to look at 21st century science to blend into your revisits of what can only be described as exceptional Science Fiction.
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Really enjoyed the remake of the 1965 pilot episode. Nice that they altered the story line as much as possible for the remake so it didn't seem like a complete copy of the original story as it was.
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One hopeful thing about that future: nobody seems paranoid about terrorist attacks any more...
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True, unless it's the hood.
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Absolutely brilliant. Β This makes it more dynamic than it looked in the episode...and, a nicer version, too!
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Cheers Peter
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The perspective really gives a sense of the distance between the two aircraft. I'm sorry to say that this Fireflash really hasn't grown on me at all, the engine mounting, the cockpit and the fuselage shape make it look even more unsafe (and ugly) than the original. I get that this is the sort of thing they were going for, but every second it was onscreen I was expecting the engines to tear off.
Personally I think this would have been a better idea for a modern Fireflash and could have tied in to the whole 'no one uses nuclear power' plot point later on. Β
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Fair play
The second idea there is pretty cool, maybe if Skythrust ever turns up
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Actually I think this thing might make for a better Skythrust, maybe something goes wrong and the plane is stuck in orbit so they launch TB3? Thunderbirds are Go is definitely at it's best when they use original plots over rehashes of the original episodes, as Fireflash made clear.
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I think fairness necessitates it to be noted, that none of the FireFlash losses is due to the aircraft's design (not even because of the reactor) - instead, all of them are due to sabotage (and quite unusual for a Thunderbird episode, one of the FireFlash crashes, the first one from Operation Crashdive, is a massively fatal one).
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True, though the reactor issues are a pretty fatal design flaw. Theres also the hood tazering one panel which causes the fuel tank to somehow rupture and break the landing gear.
It really is an unlucky plane.
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... I think they ought to Hood-proof it.
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