rwilling and all,

I've began to play in an old Yamaha 21-S, all silver plated, closed holes, offset G, etc...
There was a time when I've been called to substitute a flutist at the city orchestra, where I work today (I was a student then). People commented at that time "thank god, a flute that is finally in tune!", and I was very curious about this comment and asked them why. It was told me that the principal flutist was out of tune, had a bad color sound, etc, etc... I became even more curious so to discover what flute did he play. It was a big surprise to know that he played a brand new Hand Made All Silver Haynes flute (at that time, 1985 circa, it was perhaps the most expensive flute around).
The lesson is: IMHO, it's not always only to the flute that we need to charge debts over being out ot tune. It's possible to play relatively well in a limited flute.

That's absolutely true Zevang. Decades of recordings of professional flutists prove that even on a flute with the funkiest of scales, it is possible to play in tune. The matter comes down to how difficult it may be. Some players have more flexibility than others when it comes to bending pitch, and will be able to play these "traditional" scale flutes in tune far more easily than others. There are many different scales available, so you should play around with them to see which you prefer (assuming you are given an option) before buying a flute. Personally, I think that having to struggle with a flute for pitch keeps your mind off far more important matters of musicality, and detracts from what a performance could have been, so I prefer the Bennett scale (which suits me best) over the others, but others prefer other scales.