Tornado Intercept Vehicle
The Tornado Intercept Vehicle , TIV for short (German: Tornado-Abfang-Fahrzeug) is a converted motor vehicle that is used for storm chasing in order to film with an IMAX camera near or inside a tornado . The TIV and its successor TIV2 were planned and built by the film director Sean Casey .
TIV
The TIV is a converted 1997 Ford F-450 pickup. The car, armored with steel plates and bulletproof polycarbonate window panes, can drive in tornadoes with an intensity of EF 0 to EF3 in order to shoot IMAX films and carry out scientific measurements. Work on the TIV began in 2003 and lasted around eight months. The cost was approximately $ 81,000. The TIV fully loaded weighs 6.5 tonnes and is powered by a 7.3-liter turbo-diesel type T444E from Navistar driven. With a full tank (227 liters), the maximum range is 800 km. If the TIV stands in the path of a tornado to let it pull over it, it can anchor itself to the ground with special, hydraulically lowerable claws.
The vehicle, like its successor, is part of the Discovery Channel and DMAX series “Crazy About Tornadoes”.
In 2008 the TIV was to be replaced by its successor TIV2. However, this had to struggle repeatedly with technical difficulties, so that the TIV was reactivated at short notice.
Sean Casey said the TIV is still on duty and will serve as a backup vehicle should the TIV2 fail.
TIV 2
Sean Casey built this vehicle as the successor to the TIV, which is based on a Dodge Ram 3500 pickup , which was supplemented by a third axle. It is powered by a 6.7 liter turbo diesel from Cummins with 625 hp and a range of 1200 km. Construction of TIV 2, carried out by 40 students, began in September 2007 at the Great Plains Technology Center . The vehicle has an extra reinforced frame and is much more stable in itself. The hydraulically lowerable claws of the first TIV were replaced on the TIV 2 by an equally hydraulically lowerable apron, which protects the vehicle against wind and damage to the underbody caused by flying debris, and supports for anchoring the vehicle.
Like the first TIV, the TIV 2 has a ball bearing mounted camera tripod that can be rotated through 360 °. This is located in the tower in the middle of the car.
At the beginning, in 2008, there were many technical difficulties with the TIV 2, including a broken axle. The first TIV was reactivated for the rest of the season.
As a result, extensive modifications were made to the TIV 2, the main aim being to reduce its weight from approx. 7.6 tons. For this purpose, among other things, steel plates of the armor were replaced by aluminum in less important places. The third axle was separated from the drive train, so that the 6 × 6 drive became a 6 × 4 drive. In addition, the window area of the camera tower was enlarged. Overall, the weight of the TIV 2 could be reduced to 6.5 tons.
The TIV 2 was seen again in the fourth season of Crazy About Tornadoes . In another Discovery Channel series, Mythbusters , the TIV 2 and SRV Dominator were tested for resistance to strong winds. To do this, they were set up behind a Boeing 747 , whose jet engines were running at the highest level. At a wind speed of 260 km / h, the driver's door of the TIV opened, but this was due to Casey's mistake, as he forgot to lock the door. When tested again at 400 km / h, the TIV 2 showed no reaction, except that its supports bent slightly, while the Dominator was pushed 15 meters away.
In 2011, the TIV 2 was supplemented by a siren to warn people in the path of a tornado. Before that, there had been several accidents because the TIV 2 was unable to provide effective warning of tornadoes that it was tracking.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.npr.org/2011/06/01/136861305/filmmaker-shoots-at-the-heart-of-the-tornado
- ↑ http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/storm-chasers/vehicles/vehicles.html
- ↑ http://fandomania.com/tv-review-mythbusters-8-19-storm-chasing-myths/
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
