God Phoenix

The God Phoenix is an aircraft used by the Science Ninja Team and piloted by Ryu, often serving as the main base of operations for the team. Dr. Kozaburo Nambu also briefs the team on their mission while everybody is aboard it. The ship can also go underwater and travel in space.

It was replaced by the more powerful New God Phoenix to combat a revived Galactor in Gatchaman II.

The ship was breifly brought back into service in episode 47 of the sequel series during an emergency where the New God Phoenix and the team were trapped in their undersea base by icebergs and Dr. Sylvie Pandora had to pilot the ship and use the Firebird to rescue them.

Appearance

The God Phoenix is a large red and blue jet with the registry of "G-5" on its wings. Its design had components resembling aircraft of the 1970s era with a bulky body, twin afterburners in the rear and VTOL thrusters for maneuvering.

OVA

In the 1994 OVA, the ship was redesigned to resemble a sleek futuristic version of more modern aircraft, using design elements such as variable sweep wings and twin hypersonic jets with rocket afterburners. It is larger in scale than its previous incarnation.

The cancelled Imagi Film

From sketches and promotional material found online, the ship's design resembled a mix of its 1972 and 1994 counterparts with three cylindrical jet afterburners.