My M&E R&R arrived today! This means blowing off the afternoon that I had slotted to grade papers so I can go home and play:)
Initial thoughts:
I was kinda surprised at how quickly it arrrived - perhaps a week and 1/2 to the states.
Cosmetically, it’s definitely what I would call “functional.” It’s heavy and thick. It is very obviously machined and then hand-finished, and does not have the typical injection-molded “smoothness” one comes to expect from plastic. There are a lot of miniscule marks and tiny dings on it. Nowhere near the “elegance of finish” of a mass-produced guitar or plastic recorder, for example. But - this is actually a strength. This is clearly a workhorse instrument, not a museum piece. You get the sense that you really could use it as a personal side arm if necessary 
In terms of playability/sound, I am at school now so I’m not going to subject my colleagues to a concert of squawks and gurgles. (My classroom is next door to the principal’s office.) But I did steal a quick scale or two and a snatch of “Banish Misfortune.” Having never played a full-sized flute in my life, I was concerned about getting anything out of it. Happily, the lower octave sounded very easily, and nicely to boot. I’ve haven’t ventured north of there yet.
The only minor issue I have so far is that the holes are ever so slightly aligned for a right-handed person, and I’m a lefty. But it didnt seem too much of a problem since the offsets are not very pronounced.
Now I just need to learn how to play the darned thing. . . 
