Norris, if the decals on my apparently refinished frame are accurate, it was the Whirlwind and International TT that were one and the same. My frame carries a Whirlwind decal on the seattube and International TT decals on the downtube.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Norris Lockley <nlockley73@googlemail.com>
\r?\n> Subject: [CR] Baines Flying Gate
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 4:35 AM
\r?\n> There were several models of the
\r?\n> Flying gate design, including the
\r?\n> International TT, the VS37, and the Whirlwind, although I
\r?\n> think that the
\r?\n> latter two might have been one and the same.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The International TT was in fact not a time-trial model,
\r?\n> but a massed -start
\r?\n> one, its wheelbase was fairly short for the era, at only
\r?\n> 39.5 inches.The VS
\r?\n> 37 was the shorter model and boasted a wheelbase of 37.75
\r?\n> inches...htese
\r?\n> dimensions being obtained on frames that had an 11 inch
\r?\n> bottom bracket
\r?\n> height using 26 inch wheels. The TT model could be built to
\r?\n> specification
\r?\n> too, permitting longer rear triangles and wheelbases.
\r?\n> Angles were 74 head
\r?\n> and 72 seat.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I have both owned several of these frames and also built my
\r?\n> own BESPOKE
\r?\n> versions of them. Although the design might appear quirky,
\r?\n> it does work, and
\r?\n> can give a very stable and exhilerating ride. The vertical
\r?\n> main strut allows
\r?\n> the builder tremendous freedom to vary the seat tube angle
\r?\n> and the length of
\r?\n> the top tube. It also permits a very short rear triangle
\r?\n> even with
\r?\n> mudguards.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> A fault on the design was the failure to braze a plate or
\r?\n> bi-laminated joint
\r?\n> at the point where the vertical meets the top-tube. On some
\r?\n> older frames
\r?\n> there is sometimes a noticeable bend at that point where
\r?\n> the top-tube has
\r?\n> bent down towards the seat cluster. More substantial
\r?\n> secondary seat-stays
\r?\n> would have prevented this slight fault. The other common
\r?\n> fault with certain
\r?\n> Baines gates is rust behind the seat tube and in between
\r?\n> the chainstays. I
\r?\n> found this on a number of frames, but friends had advised
\r?\n> me that they had
\r?\n> also experienced this problem.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Norris Lockley
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Settle UK