Most of what has been said is right on point. In my opinion, it depends on whether you are dealing with a kit or an ARF. On ARF's, the construction does not take very long, so you need the parts in pretty fast succession. In a kit, you can start building the wings before you build the fuse if it's possible. Then, the engine, then the servos. And it does also depend on your building speed as well. I am a slow builder and on my Somethin Extra, I had the kit as a gift, first thing got the engine, then later bought the flight pack/receiver. By the time I was finished, I had it all. Only thing to remember is if you start the fuse first, one of the steps will probably be installing the engine mount and setting in the blind nuts. You really need the engine for that.