Good Lord, everywhere I wrote C#, I meant C-nat! Aaaarrrggh!
Sounds like you’re seriously in need of a Silkstone PVC
Thanks, everyone, for the input. This has been really interesting to me, as has BoneQuint’s ‘slightly different’ thread.
From the reading I’ve done, I thought that a Burke would probably come very close to my description, and I see that several people here agree. My question now is WHICH Burke? I’m leaning toward the composite because I suspect that temperature matters less to it than it does to a metal whistle. Is that true? Also, what bore? Is the narrow bore a lot quieter than the regular bore, maybe too quiet?
I hadn’t even thought of a Busman. I’ve never heard one. Now I’m curious. For now, I’m happier with the Burke price range, and I also don’t want to worry about taking care of a wooden whistle.
By the way, I think WHOA is a computer virus because I’m starting to experience symptoms, and I KNOW I caught it here on C&F. 
Sarah
P.S. Anyone have anything to add about Silkstone? That’s another that I hadn’t thought of, but it isn’t wood and the price is in the same range as the Burke.
Yeah. The British Racing Green PVC with it’s dark green with tiny metallic glints is the coolest-looking plastic whistle in existence and a strong contender for the overall title.
But seriously, I honestly don’t think it has ANY faults. It has a curved windway (no or little clogging), an amazingly smooth transition between octaves (three of them if your ears can take it). Solid feel without seeming heavy.
Buying from the UK can be a PITA, but Thom sells them at the Whistle Shop. (Ach! Mein gott! I just found out they’re being made in tunable models now! WhOA attack impending!!!)
I have an aluminum Silkstone, and i love it. It’s very solidly built, with the best tuning slide i’ve ever seen in any whistle, very precise, distinctive sound, works well in sessions. It’s really one of my favourites.
And, reading other recent posts, I see that it’s now possible to get a Busman in black delrin, so my desire to avoid wood doesn’t rule out a Busman after all:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=204259#204259
The choices keep multiplying . . .
It does exist, and it’s a good Abell. Not all Abells, mind you, but a good one will sound and play exactly as you describe.
I ordered the tuneable Silkstone D from the Whistleshop, and it arrived yesterday afternoon. I think I’m really going to love this whistle. 
It has a lovely, pure tone, a strong bell note, and the 2nd octave doesn’t suffer from the shrillness that my cheap whistles do (or rather, the player and listener don’t have to suffer from any shrillness!). I’m not a great whistle player (I might qualify as an advanced beginner, or maybe just as a beginner?), but it’s easy for me to make this whistle produce nice sounds. I haven’t produced a squawk on it yet. This is my first tuneable whistle, so I can’t compare the tuning slide to others, but it seems to work well. There’s a lot of room to flatten the whistle below A440, but not much room to sharpen it. I played into my electronic tuner a bit and the whistle seems to be well in tune across its entire range. There’s also much more leeway to bend notes than in the few other whistles I’ve played – I could blow a note up to 30 cents sharp or flat without the tone getting raspy or jumping octaves. The air requirements don’t jump from one note to another, which makes it easy to play. The only note I had some trouble with initially was the second octave B – it seems to be a little pickier about a focused air stream, but I’m already getting used to what it needs. With a little more practice I’m sure I won’t have any trouble with it. (I have house guests so I haven’t been able to just play it all day, unfortunately!)
I haven’t had a chance to play with other people yet, but the volume seems to be just what I wanted – not too loud, and not too quiet.
Finally, as Chuck said, the British Racing Green color is really cool. 
It is a dark green with glittery specks that are almost unnoticable when the whistle isn’t in direct light, but when the sun shines on it, it really sparkles. Very pretty.
Maybe sometime soon I can get a GOOD player to play it and give you all a review from the viewpoint of a more experienced player.
Gotta go cook dinner for my guests, and see if I can sneak in a little more playing time!
Sarah
P.S. I can see that this WHOA thing gets worse when you indulge it. Now I really want to get a Silkstone low A too . . .
I own a Burke D brass session with the Cn thumbhole. I find it makes a much nicer c natural. A little wierd to get used to at the start, but it also makes a good positional point for your fingers. Burkes do take a moderate amount of air and a pretty good effort to jump from a b to a high b. This is cut from his site.
OPTIONAL Cn Thumbhole (Available on all models) - $10
This is an option that we offer that gives you a
thumbhole on the back of the whistle between the top two holes. This gives you a perfect C natural on the D whistle that you can overblow to the octave and be perfectly in tune. Therefore, you can play perfectly in tune in the key of G with your D whistle. The option can be added to any whistle we make to give the alternate key an accurate note cooresponding to Cn. A D whistle using this option is known as the Noel Rice Model in honor of my good friend and wonderful teacher of whistle and flute, Noel Rice from Chicago Illinois