Hi all
Just popped over from the dark side 
Can anyone tell me what the two holes are for on the foot joint 
cheers
I can’t believe I beat everyone else to this!
Here goes:
On a fully-keyed flute, those two holes would be covered by keys that would allow you to obtain the C# and C natural below bottom D. On a non-keyed flute that has a foot joint (most do, but some don’t, such as the the McGee GLP model), those holes have to be there and uncovered otherwise the bottom note of the flute would be C natural instead of D, due to the length of the tube.
Hope this helps.
Ben
Ta for your swift response Ben
Of course, some of us just play a shorter flute (like GLP), and some of those have a separate (very short) foot joint.
The “bell note” (note vented by the end of the instrument) is relatively strong, and on most flutes in order to make the 6th finger hole reachable it is a small hole, making E a weak note. The longer foot (whether populated with keys or not) makes D no longer a bell note, reducing the difference between it and E.
Some people also like the extra length. It makes it easier to poke the box player next to you at a session. My wife has suggested planting a miniature orchid in the last one.
– Don Varvel