The votes for Starbucks` Maelstrom made with Vue? poll are in and the majority agree with me that it looks like Vue was used to create the environments for the viper flight through a storm.
I've been doing a bit of research but I've not been able to find a way to contact the VFX team to ask if they used Vue. One thing I have found out is that the Visual Effects Society nominated Maelstrom for a 2008 VES Award in the category of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series.