Alton Island - Skyride

"For such a remote island, Alton Island has always been a connected community. As early as the 1960s, a small community of flying machine enthusiasts provided Alton Island’s residents with the means to travel safely from Towerstree in the north down to the city of Harvan in the south east.

Residents were all thankful for this service, and how it meant they wouldn’t have to traverse the perilous canyons of Katanga Canyon or risk getting lost in the Gloomy Wood, and the road around the base of Mt Heythrop was often difficult to negotiate at times so a much faster service was required. This set up however, had a problem. As more people began to inhabit the island, the limits of the current aeroplanes began to show. The planes in service could not cope with the demand of the people, and with no room for a runway and the waiting list for flights getting longer and longer, something had to be done.

One of the pilots then had a revolutionary idea. As a younger, but undeniably eccentric British man, Sir William Algenon recalled details of a book he had read a few years previous of how huge airships had been used to ferry goods and passengers great distances. With the help of the other pilots, Sir Algenon built and flew the new, up-to-date versions of the aircraft, and created a new high capacity service between Towerstree and Harvan. In addition to this, Sir Al also opened a brand new hangar in the southwest of the island, effectively connecting the entire island together.

The effect was instantaneous. Passengers could now be transported by the hundred and not just by the dozen, and they could now travel even further and to new places. Trade also took interest, and began using the airships to freight supplies and cargo around the island and beyond. Sir Al’s eccentricity never left him, but his passengers didn’t mind. However, his tendency to overlook details occasionally had disastrous consequences.

One evening, a welding torch was left switched on in one of his hangars, and it remained active after Sir Algenon had left for the evening. The hangar was substantially damaged in the resulting fire, but the fleet was unaffected, damage to the building was repaired with Sir Al dismissing the blunder as ‘an unlucky, but unavoidable accident’. Sir Al continued in his absent-minded ways until a second fire broke out in another one of his hangars, destroying it entirely.

With two accidents slowing his service down, Out of apology, Sir Al funded the entire replacement of the hangar out of his own pocket, and vowed to never again overlook details. As of today, Sir Algenon continues to pilot his Zeppelin fleet to the grateful Alton Island public. Transporting his passengers as well as cargo more efficiently, and more safely than ever before.
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Happy 2018! I hope you all started the new year well, I know I did! I've been in a massive art mood as of late, so I decided it was time to draw yet another Alton piece. I've been wanting to draw my Skyride character for a very long time but the exact pose always evaded me.
Sir Al's design is inspired by the 'real' Sir Algenon, a character created by Alton Towers. He is considerably thinner and considerably older than the real one though.

Alton Island © Matt Lindsay
Credit to Cobra-Roll for his assistance.