There's a really long trill, F# to G#, that goes on and on for 8 or 9 measures in Pines of Rome. I didn't have that trill, my friend did, but I dovetail in twice to give her a chance to get a breath.

She told me her pinky was about to fall off, too.

This wasn't a problem on my flute, which has really light action, but the spring on her G# is a lot stronger. I tried it on by Pearl 501 backup flute- OUCH! My pinky isn't that strong!

So we figured out how to make it easier:
Left hand 1,2,3 and thumb.
Right hand moved to the left: First finger on the G#, to trill. Thumb under flute, just to the left of the G# key, for support. 3rd, or pinky finger, closing the F# key (the one to the LEFT of the normal RH first finger key, the F key.)
You can use the RH 1st finger to trill, or to make the trill go really fast, you can use your whole hand.
This would also work for a long G to G# trill, if you don't close the F# key.

She might, at some point, have the spring tension adjusted, but her flute isn't a student flute- it's a handmade Brannen. It is lighter than my Pearl backup flute, not nearly as light as my Yam 881, but for the most part it works quite well for her. She's not so great on the $$$ thing right now, too, so her flute just gets the minimum maintenence for now. The spring tension adjustment would be nice, but it just isn't on the priority list.

I wish we'd done the whole Pines of Rome, but we had 2 rehearsals cancelled due to weather problems in Feb, so we only did the last movement. Our little joke is that that trill is so long, you have to be careful not to sprain your Janiculum! (Pines of the Janiculum is the 3rd movement of the piece, for those not familiar with it.) I'm glad I didn't spend money to get a B-foot for my flute, I never needed it after all- someone else got that solo.