- "Piece of cake!"
Alan Bartlett Tracy is a character from the Thunderbirds Are Go! television series. He is the pilot of Thunderbird 3, and astronaut for International Rescue. He is the youngest of Jeff Tracy's sons and is the younger brother of Scott, John, Virgil and Gordon as well as the adoptive brother of Kayo and the youngest grandson of Grandma Tracy.
Alan’s signature colour for his iR uniform is red.
Personality and Traits[]
"A typical teenager, Alan Tracy is the youngest member of the Tracy family. With naturally gifted piloting abilities, along with incredible focus and reflexes, he's enthusiastic and loves his job helping people."
As the youngest member of the Tracy family and of International Rescue, Alan is the most enthusiastic, expressive and excitable member of the team and is also the one who also gains the most experience throughout the series.
As a lover of all things action he loves to show how brave and useful he thinks he can be to his brothers in any given situation, even if it is something that is a little bit more than he can handle on his own. There are times where he dislikes being the youngest and being left out of missions (Runaway) but also knows that he doesn’t have enough experience to be completely self reliant when cut off from his brothers - even when he has the intelligence and creative thinking to get him out of most problematic situations, like giving Thunderbird 3 an extra push towards earth from being on the wrong side of the sun (Slingshot), or using the pressure of the geysers on Europa to break through to the surface of the ice in Thunderbird 4 (Deep Search).
Alan gets excited when on missions and occasionally that over-enthusiasm can cause a few annoyances, mostly for Scott or Kayo who have sat co-pilot with him on a number of occasions, however Gordon had reversed that trend by annoying him with endless episodes of his favorite TV show and Alan has even crippled his craft just for Virgil to plant a bomb into an asteroid heading towards the Earth (Impact). He also rescues John on two occasions, firstly to save his brother and retake control of Thunderbird 5 from an artificial intelligence (EOS) and when John lost contact with him while on board the EDEN Generation Ship, Alan helped him steer the broken Exopod in their attempt to escape the generational ship being torn apart (Ghost Ship).
He does have a tendency to sleep on his feet (Heist Society) or on the floor if the opportunity presents itself (Slingshot, Designated Driver), he enjoys playing video games (Slingshot) and pillow fights with his siblings (Earthbreaker), but his real passion is helping his brothers rescue people in need. He is a lover of all things space, like flying to the moon when they had to rescue Captain Lee Taylor (Relic), being able to fly within the tail of Halley's comet (Comet Chasers), helped a Martian space colony reach Mars (Colony) and even come into contact with an alien life form on the moon of Jupiter - a mission that he was given full responsibility for over one of his other siblings (Deep Search).
Despite complaining he doesn’t get to take Thunderbird 3 out enough (Space Race), Alan is the only member of the Tracy family to ever drive/fly FAB 1, an extremely rare privilege that even Scott himself admitted he’s never done before (Designated Driver).
Duties[]
Alan Tracy is primarily Thunderbird 3's astronaut, which allows him to be International Rescue's head of deep space rescue. When he is not required in the rocket, Alan can also co-pilot Thunderbird 2 (as seen in Fireflash, Power Play, Inferno, and Avalanche), which he has also been able to pilot (as seen in Inferno). Alan has also been the co-pilot of Thunderbird 1 (as seen in Designated Driver), and it was stated that he is able to pilot the craft (in Breakdown). Alan has also been the co-aquanaut of Thunderbird 4 when he had to use Thunderbird 3 take Gordon and the submarine the Jupiter's ice moon, Europa (as seen in Deep Search). When John had to leave Thunderbird 5, Alan assisted Gordon in taking over space monitor duty (as seen in The Man From TB5). When required, Alan also acts as the helmsman of the Zero-XL (as shown in The Long Reach Part 1 and Part 2).
Along with his roles in the Thunderbirds, Alan can also operate some of the PODs. Using the POD chassis in Thunderbird 2, Alan can operate the Mole Pod (Chain Of Command), the Bulldozer Pod (Power Play), the Elevator Car Pod (Fireflash), the Helipod (Heavy Metal), the Foam Stabilisation Pod (Chain Of Command), and the Submarine Pod (SOS Part 2). Using the Earth Pod chassis in Thunderbird 2, Alan can operate the Sherpa Pod (Avalanche), Land Pod (Firebreak), and the Bulldozer Pod (Firebreak). Using the Space Pod chassis in Thunderbird 3, Alan can operate the Cargo Pod (Night and Day) and the Dragonfly Pod (Life Signs).
Equipment[]
During rescue missions, Alan wears a specialised space suit with thermal protection mesh and tactile assist gloves, all blue in colour and has a Thunderbird 3 badge on the right shoulder. Along with the space suit, Alan has a pair of holographic displays on his wrists, red on the left wrist and blue on the right wrist. Alan also wears a pair of blue and red electrostatic grip enabled boots. Alan’s suit also contains a red sash containing replacement circuitry storage. On his belt, Alan has a pair of gravity rockets that allow for short range space flight. As well as these, Alan also has an orbital conveyance platform. The Astroboard is a red jet powered surf-board, used for fast space travel in places where Thunderbird 3 or a Pod would be unsuitable. To protect his head and give him safe air to breath, Alan wears a blue and red helmet, with an ‘iR’ on the left and a ‘3’ on the right, both in white.
Along with the space suit and the Astroboard, Alan also has a deep water exo-suit, a deep water propulsion and rescue exo-suit. This suit covers Alan’s body, arms and legs, and is able to withstand deep pressures and freezing temperatures. The back of the exo-suit has a turbine used for propulsion, able to to be controlled precisely in strong currents. The left arm has a communications and control panel for Thunderbird 3, and the right arm has a control panel for Thunderbird 4. The helmet is replaced with a blue helmet, containing a red breathing regulator.
Suit Up Sequence[]
To launch Thunderbird 3, Alan sits on the pilot seat in the lounge, with the co-pilot seat on his right. The two seats lower to the Thunderbird 3 and Thunderbird S launch tube, which Alan is taken along via a trolley. At the end of this launch tube, the seats are rotated 90° clockwise so that Alan is facing the two separate launch tubes at the end of the one he is currently in. The pilot seat is taken into the launch tube on the left while the co-pilot seat is taken into the launch tube on the right. With Alan now in his own launch tube, his wrist mounted holographic displays and chestplate are attached to him by robotic arms with him personally putting on his space suit, gloves and sash while his seat is being rotated 180° so that he exits the tube backwards. Alan is rejoined by the co-pilot seat as he exits the launch tube.
Launch Sequences[]
- Astronaut of Thunderbird 3
- Test Pilot of Thunderbird 1
- Co-Pilot of Thunderbird 1
- Co-Pilot of Thunderbird 2
- Co-Aquanaut of Thunderbird 4
- Reserve Monitor of Thunderbird 5
Notable Episodes[]
- Main article: /Missions
Alan may not have as many solo missions like his other siblings, however there are a few episodes where Alan really gets to show that despite being young for his age - his is every bit as competent as a member of International Rescue as his brothers are.
Space Race[]
Alan is doing clean-up duty in space, collecting a lot of floating debris to prevent it becoming a hazard until he accidentally collects a stealth mine left over from the global conflict of 2040. The mine becomes activated and Alan must keep it distracted with Thunderbird 3 so it doesn't blow up any of the large space ships in orbit around the Earth.
Slingshot[]
Alan and Kayo are sent out to save Ned Tedford from the Galvana Mine which is located on an asteroid near the sun. After over shooting the asteroid from being hit solar flare and wasting a lot of their fuel, Alan comes up with an ingenious way to move the asteroid around the sun and to launch Thunderbird 3 back in the right direction back towards earth.
Designated Driver[]
Parker is teaching Alan to drive FAB 0 when some thieves break into the Creighton-Ward Manor and after Parker injures his arm, Alan must try and stop the thieves who also have no idea how to drive when they try to make a getaway with Lady Penelope and her Great Aunt Sylvia.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Alan is too young to remember the stories that his father and Captain Taylor used to tell about life on the Moon while his brothers (and possibly Kayo) remember them. This is evident when Alan asks what Taylor's story was while he and Scott were on their way to the Moonbase in Relic. Scott and John - via hologram - explain that they had some pretty wild adventures in their time and that Taylor's stories were more exaggerated than those of their father.
- Owing to Alan's young age, it is possible that he was left without either parent from very early in his life. In Home on the Range, the Tracy brothers are discussing their childhood and explicit mention their mother. Alan, however, doesn't contribute and later tell Kayo the reason he wasn't talking about his mother is that he doesn't remember her. Some time later, when travelling to Mars in Life Signs, Alan tells Virgil that he only has sparse and vague memories of Jeff, saying that he remembers the "big" things that Jeff had done, but no actual memories of the man himself. He asks Virgil to describe Jeff's characteristics and personality. Because of this, it is highly likely that Alan was raised by his four brothers and their grandmother.
- It appears that Alan follows Jeff's footsteps more than the rest of his brothers. It is mentioned by Grandma in Relic that it was Jeff's dream to be an astronaut (and the dream came true later on). Alan is one of two current International Rescue astronauts (as Jeff was missing in action), however, Alan is more interested in space travel and exploration than his brother John.
- It is unexplained as to how Alan knows how to fly a spaceship and not how to drive. Flying is shown to be easier for Alan in Designated Driver when Parker is giving lessons and is able to control FAB 0 in mid-air without complications.
- Much like with Captain Taylor's stories, Alan is too young to remember the TV-21, the original Thunderbird that Brains constructed as a prototype to Thunderbird 1. This is apparent when the rest of his brothers and Brains gasp in awe when they see that the TV-21 has been found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. He then questions them but doesn't get a straight answer at first. Scott then explains to him about the TV-21 and how it was the 'original' Thunderbird and how it was considered a precursor to Thunderbird 1 before The Hood sabotaged it.
- In Home on the Range, Alan says he never has much to say in conversations about when they were young, with Kayo saying she feels the same due to them both being at school at the time, too. This indicates that they have known each other for a very long time and might explain why Kayo appears to be closer to Alan than anyone else and why he has more memories with her, like learning Morse Code.
- So far, Alan, Gordon, and Brains are the only characters to have been in all five Thunderbird craft.
- Moreover, Alan is the only person who is known to have taken command (in one way or another) of each of the entire Thunderbird fleet.
- Alan was the first character in this series to use the famous "F.A.B." catchphrase.
- Alan's age is never mentioned on screen, but according to French novelizations, Alan is 14 years old. However, in The Long Reach Part 2, Alan is shown to have just graduated high school, assuming it was an American high school course and he didn't graduate early, this makes Alan about 18.
- Alan is considered a bad dancer.
- Alan has a habit of falling asleep on his bedroom floor, and flying in his sleep.
- Alan has an interest in Halley's Comet.
- When flying through environments such as asteroid fields, Alan applies his video game knowledge to help avoid obstacles. He also claims to be a well-known player in the game Cavern Quest.
- Alan has a tendency to stress eat, which he shares with Grandma Tracy (TB2015).
Foreign Names[]
- Japanese: アラン・トレーシー (Aran Torēshī)
- Chinese: 艾倫·崔西 (Àilún Cuīxī)
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 Primary Operatives: Field Agents: |