So I ordered a Hammy practice flute in D for now, and a 6-keyed Lehart for next spring, and I think it was the right decision, skipping the Dixon/poly stage completely. Wish me luck.
Lehart’s waiting list seems to be down to 7 months for fully keyed, if anybody’s interested.
Sonja
Do you have an email address for Gilles Lehart? The website I found for him does not appear to be functioning.
He doesn’t have email, I wrote him to the address at http://www.firescribble.net/flute/makers.html. He responded very quickly.
Sonja
Hello (Red?) Sonja!
Since apparently you’ve already decided you want to play flute, i think you did well in skipping the Dixon, but the Hamilton practice flute is really just a cylindrical aluminum tube, which fulfills the same function as a Dixon would have (i.e.: as a cheap flute-like instrument to help you figure out if you really want to spend the big bucks on a real flute). I think a better first flute would be a M&E or Seery, because they are more like the wooden flutes used for Irish music. The M&E has more of a Rudall feel, and the Seery more of a Pratten feel. Either one is a fine flute. If you feel limited by the Hammy practice flute, you might want to consider one of them.
But if you already ordered the practice Hammy, 7 months is not a very long amount of time, you’ll survive. 
Plus you get a chance to deal with Hammy Hamilton, a real nice guy and great flute player.
g
Sonja,
A keyed Lehart flute in 7 months? Great choice!
rama
I’m happy to see something about French (Breton) flutemaker!
I’m sure it’ a good choice! He’s famous by us!
If I had the money, I probably would have tried one of them, but I wanted a “real” flute as soon as possible, and not delay it by spending money for a cheap flute, even a good one. And I will survive this winter. 
Sonja
If the purpose is to get started while you wait for a good flute, and not to deceive yourself into believing that your inexpensive starter flute is a real keeper, I think you made a wise decision. The Hammy practice flute will help you get started, with few disadvantages and far less money than even the cheapest polymer. After a relatively short wait that will seem excrutiatingly long , you will have in the Lehart a flute worthy of learning and keeping as long as you play the instrument. The Hammy will be just as useful as any whistle or polymer for bringing along on hikes or fiddling (fluting?) with during an impulsive moment.
Gordon
are there reviews of hammy’s practice flute?
Perhaps someone will provide one. Best
I found Hammy’s practice model in G to be good and responsive and would quite like one myself.
The D model is good for getting used to the stretch and good also for those who are at the stage of getting ANY sort of a tone out of the various notes. As long as the student player keeps in mind that they will have to put much more work into focusing their embouchure on a quality wooden flute then it can only help in the short term. It is an inexpensive means to an end in terms of the early phases of learning, not a performance instrument. I would always recommend a quality wooden instrument where at all possible, but we all know how hard they are to catch! (Hat’s off to Hammy for providing something for the waiting period).
There is certainly at least several months of learning to be had out of it if approached properly (assuming here that the potential buyer is just starting off on flute).
Regards, Harry.