You say you want to build your first R/C airplane. Is this your first build, your first airplane, your first flight?
In the past I have built a single wing for a school project. And I have flown a couple of total beginner RC planes. So I'm really a total beginner here.
However, it's not the first thing I have built. I have 16 years in the robotics business (I started when I was 14, and have been doing it full time since I was 21. I'm now 31). I have built several humanoid robot arms and hands, including about half of the one pictured. The thing about robots like that is that all the parts are so tiny, so I have a ton of experience building tiny fiddly things, including really very dense electronics. I am experienced in hand crafting, as well as CNC machining. And writing software, including firmware, control and physical modelling, and CAD packages for electronic design.
Hugo