What's the world record for largest finger hole on a flute?

[Dominic Allan]

I've been spending some time getting to know my antique Riviere and Hawkes flute. It has larger holes than I usually favour ,
the largest being 11mm (7/16") I'm sure I've seen bigger.
I'll look through the measurement I've taken from flutes that passed through my hands over the years to see if I've come across anything larger.
Do you know of a larger hole on a simple system flute (old or new)that was intended to be covered by a human finger?

[LorenzoFlute]

Do indian bansuri count? My one in low B has some holes about 12mm large. When I bought it, I had to pick it from two others. One of them had some holes about 13mm large, and even if I was using the so called "piper's grip", my fingers would just fall inside the holes.

[Loren]

The term "about", with regards to measurements, is not typically well received by instrument makers


Loren

[hans]

The term "about", with regards to measurements, is not typically well received by instrument makers
Loren

I've got a B bansuri with hole five and six being 12mm x 11mm (elliptical), and an A bansuri with hole five being 14mm x 12.5mm (elliptical). Such large holes are not surprising really, since the bansuris have cylindrical (elliptical really) bore, not tapered. Same goes for cylindrical bore whistles. But I doubt Dominic wanted to hear about holes in tapered bore flutes, which can be smaller.

[Dominic Allan]

It's all of interest, I am mostly interested in tapered bore flutes though.
There's no scholarly research project going on, I'm just intrigued as to what people have encountered.

[Terry McGee]

Dom

Skimming through my flutes and drawings, the largest (among 8-key styles) I've seen is 11mm. I have just a sneaking suspicion I once came across an 11.2, but it could have been a nightmare.

I think it's probably instructive that Siccama, no doubt wanting the maximum in venting combined with ease of playing, and with the luxury of being able to move his holes around a bit, restricted his three biggest holes to 10.5mm.

Terry

[MarkP]

The R2 hole on my Hammy is 11mm, big flute, big sound