TIV1 coming out of retirement?

[Jonathan Scrogham]

Tiv 1 was never able to lower all the way to the ground, so I hope that they fix that.

 

[Jeff Wright]

It will be interesting to see an (honest) write-up on the exact science being collected

Now I might want to release a weather balloon after being towed underneath a waterspout. On land….one of those Estes rockets with a GoPro to be fired upward..maybe with a fish eye.

If you can surround a multi vortex with enough drones…there might be enough footage to splice together such that you center one suction vortex and follow its life cycle as it orbits about.

That would be worthy. Getting a drone in the core to look down as damage is being done…fish-eye lens? …might also allow photogrammetry.

 

[Gavin Nichols]

Now I might want to release a weather balloon after being towed underneath a waterspout. On land….one of those Estes rockets with a GoPro to be fired upward..maybe with a fish eye.

If you can surround a multi vortex with enough drones…there might be enough footage to splice together such that you center one suction vortex and follow its life cycle as it orbits about.

That would be worthy. Getting a drone in the core to look down as damage is being done…fish-eye lens? …might also allow photogrammetry.

The waterspout idea might work, but the multi-vortex drone idea does NOT sound strategically possible. for example: it could get body-slammed into the ground by debris or by simply by downdraft winds before it even gets CLOSE to get picked up, and even if it succeeds, what are the odds of the camera surviving? ZERO.

now if any of this is wrong please correct me, but there WAS some similar work done back in the 70s where they shot home-made rockets into waterspouts with a prop plane. it did not work, but with today's tech, it might actually be physically possible.

 

[Jeff Wright]

Sterling Colegate did that…hoping to confirm Bernard Vonnegut’s idea..Kurt’s brother. Joe Golden flew through some weak waterspouts.
As cheap as drones are..it’s okay to expend them.. as here:

 

[Todd Lemery]

Sterling Colegate did that…hoping to confirm Bernard Vonnegut’s idea..Kurt’s brother. Joe Golden flew through some weak waterspouts.
As cheap as drones are..it’s okay to expend them.. as here:

So cool!

 

[Jeff Wright]

On Sterling’s flight

The Weather Never Sleeps

www.aopa.org

 

[Jonathan Scrogham]

Anyone know whatever happened to Sean? All of his social media stopped in 2018, and we haven't heard anything since TIV 2 was purchased... and how did this whole scavenger hunt come to be? Why not sell TIV 1 as well?

 

[Jack R. Jester]

I had a chance to see the TIV 1 a couple months ago while passing through Hays KS. Not much had been done to it, but I checked it out myself and it still looks very solid when it comes to rust.

The Lexan probably all needs to be replaced since it is been sun faded to the point where its opaque. If I were working on it, I'd start with yanking all the glass out of it, having it media blasted to bear metal, then epoxy primer. After that I'd pick up a good running '168 WB Ford F350 (or 450) and swap the drive-train/any other mechanical parts it needs. After that, I'd do whatever metal work needs to be done and spay it with some sort of industrial paint (the type of stuff they paint water towers/big boats with). Something like that would probably hold up better and have better adhesion than bedliner). I'd then cut and install new Lexan and take her back out on the road.

 

[Gavin Nichols]

Good plan Jack, i agree with most of your Ideas. Let me add on:
I Would focus more on safety. FIRST: get rid of those spikes. they are straight up useless in most situations, without a doubt. the biggest problem would be the body work; Yes, It can hold itself together. But it would most likely fall apart in a tornado. I agree on the engine and the windows, maybe take it a step further and go straight for the transmission as well. because i have an awful feeling the trans is about ready to practically explode.
Now for safety: REVAMP the whole interior. why? IF (more likely when) the TIV takes off, you would get absolutely salt-shaked, reducing your chance of survival even more. Protect the Inside, not the out.

 

[Jonathan Scrogham]

Man, they sure haven't done much work on it. Are they actively working on it or storing it?

 

[Jack R. Jester]

Good plan Jack, i agree with most of your Ideas. Let me add on:
I Would focus more on safety. FIRST: get rid of those spikes. they are straight up useless in most situations, without a doubt. the biggest problem would be the body work; Yes, It can hold itself together. But it would most likely fall apart in a tornado. I agree on the engine and the windows, maybe take it a step further and go straight for the transmission as well. because i have an awful feeling the trans is about ready to practically explode.
Now for safety: REVAMP the whole interior. why? IF (more likely when) the TIV takes off, you would get absolutely salt-shaked, reducing your chance of survival even more. Protect the Inside, not the out.

I actually do autobody for a living and I'll tell you that it seems pretty solid to me It's made up from 1/8 in welded onto a frame of thick wall 2 in steel tubing.

When I was talking about a parts truck, I was thinking of finding some rusty commercial chassis F350/450 with a good 7.3 powerstroke and ZF5speed and swap both the engine/trans out. I think it be a pretty easy way to get it on the road reliably.

I would also probably do all the metal work/modifications while the unit is in epoxy primer.

When it comes to the interior, I'd probably bedline the whole inside then use stick on Dynamat insulation to quiet it down.

Another modification I'd do is cut out/build another front door since it only has one on the passenger side. I'd also make the doors removable like a Jeep since A/C isn't really a practical option for this thing.

 

[Jack R. Jester]

I actually 3d modeled my concept for a refit TIV 1.

I'd want to add a rear door to make loading/unloading things easier, and add a second front door as well as make both doors suicide doors (or maybe make them removable) for airflow since this thing probably won't get an A/C system.

 

[Gavin Nichols]

I actually do autobody for a living and I'll tell you that it seems pretty solid to me It's made up from 1/8 in welded onto a frame of thick wall 2 in steel tubing.

When I was talking about a parts truck, I was thinking of finding some rusty commercial chassis F350/450 with a good 7.3 powerstroke and ZF5speed and swap both the engine/trans out. I think it be a pretty easy way to get it on the road reliably.

I would also probably do all the metal work/modifications while the unit is in epoxy primer.

When it comes to the interior, I'd probably bedline the whole inside then use stick on Dynamat insulation to quiet it down.

Another modification I'd do is cut out/build another front door since it only has one on the passenger side. I'd also make the doors removable like a Jeep since A/C isn't really a practical option for this thing.

The doors are actually a good idea, i heard that thing is a giant oven. also, bedlining the interior would be the cheap route, and is a good option. The 7.3 powerstroke is a good cheap option, but if i did not have to worry about money, i would drop in a 5th gen 6.7L cummins. yes, it will not be as reliable, but your would have speed and power. another option is to maybe lighten it a little bit, just so it does not lumber like a boat as much.

 

[Jack R. Jester]

The doors are actually a good idea, i heard that thing is a giant oven. also, bedlining the interior would be the cheap route, and is a good option. The 7.3 powerstroke is a good cheap option, but if i did not have to worry about money, i would drop in a 5th gen 6.7L cummins. yes, it will not be as reliable, but your would have speed and power. another option is to maybe lighten it a little bit, just so it does not lumber like a boat as much.

I think a 12V 5.9 Cummins would be the best in my book. You can still get a massive amount of HP from one, and they're even tougher than 7.3's.

 

[Kaivaira H]

Hey fellas, new guy here. Figured this would be a good thread to make my debut on since, while I've had a fascination with tornadoes for as long as I can remember, TIV 1 was what really got me into storm chasing. We can go more into my origin story later: what I want to do right now though is provide some updates on the old warhorse.

So quick recap for anyone who is still in the dark utterly clueless, which I don't completely blame you for since we haven't heard a whole lot from the Silver Ghost as I like to call her, since Storm Chasers ended. In 2019, Sean Casey sold TIV 2 on Craigslist to fellow chaser Ryan Shepard, who was actually a part of Team TIV and was involved in the making of the IMAX film, Tornado Alley. It's long since been refurbished and is now sponsored by the chaser group, Live Storm Chasers. Ryan remains the driver of the vehicle. As far as TIV 1 is concerned, Sean had left it on some guy's Liebenthal, Kansas farm for a number of years before hosting a scavenger hunt for it. Whoever found it first could keep it. Robert Clayton, a KSN Storm Tracker and member of the Chase One: Storm Chasing group was the lucky man, and he is the owner of the vehicle. I see some of you have watched his video touring the TIV and explaining some of his immediate + long-term plans for it, so I'll move on now to the most recent updates.

As of writing, the TIV is in storage at Augie's Repair & Towing in Hays. The plan is to give it a complete rebuild from the ground-up. Some of these details include a complete redesign of the interior, remaining rear-wheel drive, as well as replacing the hydraulic claws with spikes like on TIV 2, as I see some of you have noted. It's also planned to be repainted black, so I won't be able to call her the Silver Ghost anymore, unfortunately. Perhaps the most crucial aspect of her rebuilding is that she is planned to have a brand-new twin-turbo engine. Which kind may be used I'm not sure, although I would personally be down for the Cummins. From what I understand, it is the most powerful diesel engine on the market, and I've always been fond of combining the power of a Dodge Cummins with the durability of a Ford (because from what I also understand Ford trucks are more durable and long-lasting than a Dodge; correct me if I'm wrong). I look at it as the next Fair Play x Mahubah = Man o' War breeding type of thing, if any of you know anything about horse racing.

Unfortunately, this engine rebuild is also what is really screwing up the plans to get TIV 1 back up and running, as the parts needed for the engine are, according to Robert, currently unavailable. BUT, that doesn't seem to be getting in the way of the short-term plan. For right now, Robert plans to get just the necessary fixes on TIV 1 so it can run again in time for the next storm season. Basically a practice run.

And that's about it. I'll leave a link to the latest video about TIV 1's current status right after this. I'll also link Robert's Facebook post where he goes into even more detail about what's going on, if I can find it again. For now, my name is Kevin; hope I was of some service to this topic, and it's a pleasure to be here.

TIV 1 facts - YouTube