The Ultimate Chase Vehicle

If you watch the video in this thread, you will see a HOUSE rise up and explode:

http://stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12708.

Now what do you think will happen to that car if it gets picked up by an EF-5? It might not explode like the house, but the big issue is what will happen when it lands. I believe comedian Alan King pointed out back in the 1960's that no one ever died from a fall - it's the sudden stop at the end that gets them!
 
I'm sure glad he decided not to actually take any "pencil necks" out back for a thrashing......he's in shape, you know......WHATEVER!
 
There is a thread on here from back in 2005 about this guy. You guys might want to search for it read it, it was a long thread. A ride in his vehicle in to the tornado was offered up on eBay. I was pretty critical of it then and for my efforts he called some of my business contacts and stirred up some trouble.
 
I remember that thread or one similar to it. To be clear, this involved the guy with the TIV who is allied with DOW. As I recall, he actually entered into the conversation, spoke to people's concerns, answered a few questions, and so forth. The overall response at the time was along these lines:
* You're crazy
* but at least you've done some homework
* and it's great that you're following a legitimate passion, not just trying to drum up media attention
* plus you seem to have some legitimate applications, and you're taking your cues from DOW, not just lone-wolf idiocy
* however, you're still crazy
* and your vehicle is ugly.

(This last statement is purely the opinion of the writer and is not intended to express the views of the stormchasing community at large, although it probably does.)

At the end of that thread, I did sense a kind of overall respect for the guy for being true to his passion, and for opening himself up to questioning by members of this site. Does anyone else have a similar recollection?
 
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Oh, man. I remember that thread. I stand corrected. Not hard to get mixed up since both vehicles have been commented on at various times in the forums.

I also recall some homemade tornado probe made out of an old washing machine. The creator evidently was serious enough to take the thing through a couple incarnations. Nothing like R&D. I wonder what ever became of that.
 
Bob Hartig said:
I also recall some homemade tornado probe made out of an old washing machine. The creator evidently was serious enough to take the thing through a couple incarnations. Nothing like R&D. I wonder what ever became of that.
Click to expand...

The "TAP2"?

(Sorry for "borrowing" your pic, Blake!)
 
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IIRC, Melissa Moon created TAP 1 after being "inspired" by Twister. But she had flowers painted on it. Someone else decided a tornado probe needed a more storm-like motif, thus TAP 2!

Actually if you think about what some in the general population think of stormchasers, instead of calling the TAV and TIV guys crazy, we should just say they're too crazy.

As Waylon Jennings sang, "I've always been crazy. It's kept me from going insane!"
 
Hmmm - I should have performed a better search of the archives before reopening this can of worms. I too had first seen this vehicle on the net a couple of years ago and was somewhat surprised that it seemed to be new to so many in the chase community.

A tip of the top hat to David Drummond for enduring all what is described in that archived thread.

But these good folks seem to have dropped out of sight altogether. Is that a fact or am I just out of the loop?
 
Well, I've got to admit, I'm actually impressed with some of the efforts of the TIV. I was reading through the Feb. 2005 issue of BAMS. There's an article in there about how disastrous an urban torando could be. They talk about some data collected by an ultrasonic anemometer mounted on the TIV as a tornado near Jayton, TX passed very close to them. So, props to them for that, that is some cool stuff.

I imagine this is the plan for the TAV:

Step #1: Drive into a tornado.
Step #2: Get more media attention.
Step #3: ????
Step #4: PROFIT!!!!


I sure hope someone catches this reference.
 
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