IF an instructor is hard to come by, I would by an RC simulator such as great planes real flight. Sit in front of that for awhile and get good at it. then go get your alpha.

I sat in front of my simulator all winter long, bought a extra easy 2 (just about like an alpha), put skiis on it and went to a frozen unoccupied lake. I soloed my first time without incident and so far the only thing I have done to my plane is crash it into a field hazard after landing.

The frozen lake is a good spot to learn. All you have to land on is THE lake and generally the whole lake is Smooth.

But also without an instructor there is going to be some trial and error on your part with setup.

By the way the mustang on the flight sim is about the hardest plane to fly (especially land)