Most sources describe this as a large-scale open stop of 8' or 4' pitch, whose loud tone is a hybrid between a Principal and an Open Flute. While Audsley and Irwin both describe it as being of metal, a number of wooden examples are known. Skinner uses the name Principal Flute for an 8' Harmonic Flute, which he describes as having a scale of 47 (at 8' C), perforated 5/12 of the way up from the languid.
Principal Flute 8' (wood), Great; Congregational Church, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA; Roosevelt 1883.