With the great weather here on Saturday I was able to maiden my new Alpha 40 DSM2. The Evolution engine started up easily and needed no adjustments. My instructor took it up alone to trim it out. Then we hooked up on the buddy box and I took over. It handled well on low rates but I felt like I could have handled the high rates since the 4-channel electric I fly on high rates. It tracked nicely and I felt very comfortable flying it. I attempted a landing and made a decent approach when I realized that the throttle trim on the trainer box was not adjusted properly so I could not slow it down enough to land it. My instructor felt that this was something we may need to do on the ground so he took the controls back and landed.

Even though I only had about 5 minutes on the stick I felt very comfortable with the Alpha 40. I'm going to try a take-off and landing with the buddy box next Saturday and then possible solo after that. I've been flying electrics for a little over a year so I'm not a total newbie.

I'll post when I solo (hopefully with pictures). In the meantime, here I am standing next to the Alpha 40 before the maiden!