G'day

I have no experience of the Alpha 40 but I do have experience with many similar four channel trainers. Once they are trimmed out, they will fly much like your 3 channel models. BUT, before they are trimmed, they may not be very stable and may want to roll to the left or right and/or may also need elevator trim. The worst case is a model that needs a lot of aileron trim AND a fair bit of up trim too. This can often happen (as it happened to me) because the ailerons or elevator have been made with a twist built in. This is very common in ARFs.

If you are not used to this, it can result in quite a short flight.

So, for your first flight, try to make sure that the ailerons are set up the same on both sides and the elevator and rudder are also in their neutral positions. Also, try to have a second person on hand to help you with trimming the plane. If the plane is way out of trim, you may not be able to take your thumb off the stick long enough to make the trim changes you need. I always do this with new models when I can. It really makes things easier but make sure your assistant knows exactly what to do or he may make things worse.

Also, be very careful to get the C of G right. As someone here has in his signature "Nose heavy planes fly badly; tail heavy planes only fly once."

Cheers and have fun,

Mike in Oz