Sean Cameron Casey (born December 28, 1967) is an American

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

filmmaker and storm chaser who appeared in the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

reality television series ''

Storm Chasers Storm chaser or stormchaser may refer to: Weather * Storm chasing, the pursuit of any severe weather condition * Storm chaser, colloquial term referring to scammers who enter areas recently afflicted by disasters offering false or shoddy servi ...

''. Casey created an IMAX film called ''Tornado Alley'' about chasing tornadoes and had to build the Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) and the Tornado Intercept Vehicle 2 (TIV2) to film inside a tornado. ''Tornado Alley'' was released worldwide on March 18, 2011. Casey has been named one of the 50 best minds of 2008 by ''

Discover Magazine ''Discover'' is an American general audience science magazine launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It is currently owned by LabX Media Group. History Founding ''Discover'' was created primarily through the efforts of ''Time'' magazine e ...

''. Currently Sean is spearheading a program called "Plants For Schools" in which landscapes on Title 1 elementary school campuses are transformed into educational exhibits of conservation.

Tornado Intercept Vehicles

Casey built two mobile armored trucks called Tornado Intercept Vehicles (TIV and TIV2) to film very near to from inside the tornadoes he chases, sometimes with atmospheric scientist

Joshua Wurman Joshua Michael Aaron Ryder Wurman (born October 1, 1960) is an American atmospheric scientist and inventor noted for tornado, tropical cyclone, and weather radar research, the invention of Doppler On Wheels, DOW and bistatic radar multiple-Dopple ...

's Center for Severe Weather Research and the

Doppler on Wheels Doppler on Wheels (DOW) is a fleet of quickly deployable truck-mounted weather radars managed by FARM (Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets), an American research company affiliated with the University of Alabama Huntsville. The group, which ...

radar trucks (DOW 2-DOW 7). Construction began on the TIV in 2003 and cost over $80,000. Sean began the concept of the TIV after having to use rented minivans to storm chase, and being unable to get up close to a tornado. The windows are bullet resistant

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate ester, carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, toughness, tough materials, and some grades are optically transp ...

at thick. The Tornado Intercept Vehicles have a 7.3-liter Ford Power Stroke turbo diesel under the hood, and the top speed is . The TIV weighs in at and holds of fuel. Construction began on TIV2 in September 2007 with help from

Great Plains Technology Center Technology Centers, in Oklahoma, are Career and Technical schools which provide career and technology education for high school students in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The students generally spend part of each day in their respective schools purs ...

Lawton, Oklahoma Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, Oklahoma, Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Located in western Oklahoma, approximately southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton metropolitan ar ...

after Sean realized he needed to upgrade his vehicle. TIV2 weighs in at and is a 4-wheel drive, 3 axle vehicle. It stands taller than the original TIV and is capable of going on mud and unpaved roads without the fear of getting stuck. The original TIV has 2-wheel drive and extremely low ground clearance that would cause it to get stuck on unpaved roads. It is powered by a 6.7-liter

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, electric vehicle components, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipmen ...

turbodiesel engine, modified with

propane Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...

and water injection, to produce 625 horsepower. This gives TIV2 an estimated top speed of over . Fuel capacity is in a custom fuel tank, giving TIV2 an approximate range over . The body of TIV2 is constructed of a 1/8-inch steel skin welded over a square tubing steel frame. The windows in TIV2 are all bullet resistant 1 5/8 inch interlayered

sheets and tempered glass. TIV2 also features an IMAX filming turret similar to the one on the original TIV. The original TIV's somewhat cumbersome hydraulic claws were not used on TIV2 in favor of four hydraulic skirts that drop down to deflect wind over the TIV to stabilize it and protect the underside from debris plus two stakes that extend down . The stakes were so effective that after the first use, TIV2 could not retract the stakes, and they had to be dug out by hand.

References

External links

Tornado Alley IMAX Movie
* * of ''

''
Production website
of ''Storm Chasers'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Sean 1967 births American documentary filmmakers Film directors from California Film producers from California Storm chasers Living people

Tornado Intercept Vehicles

See also

References

External links