My second plane was an Ultra Stick 40. Still love this plane. The first time I flew it I was nervous even though it was an ARF. My muffler fell off in flight causing me to lose power and crash on the maiden flight. THAT HURT! I bought a new one a few months later and I still have it and its great. The point is that they all come down or at least get banged up sooner or later. If you are going to take the time to build nice planes, do it cause you like building nice planes.....and when you eventually have an unfortunate incident.... think to yourself " oh goody, I get to rebuild". Just remember though, just because it takes a beating doesn't mean it's Kaput. None of this is going to help you calm your nerves on your maiden though, that's just the nature of the hobby...lol.

Here are some things you may experience though, to help mentally prepare you:
You'll get the field, calm and collected...... assemble your plane, calm and collected.....then check things over (ailerons going the right way?, etc.) Still calm? yeah
Time to start your engine....THUMP. Good times, engine is running beautifully. Old guys surround your plane and tell you how nice it is and tell you there is no time like the present to get her up. ( no pressure)
THUMP THUMP.....Man it just got a little warmer out here! Taxi out.....awe crap what did I get myself into. Can't turn around now though, the old guys are watching.
Giver her gas and go.......THUMP THUMP THUMP. YOUR HEART IS POUNDING NOW! Pull back and start climbing.....Little nervous but holding it together.
THEN YOU GO FOR YOUR FIRST TURN. AAAAAAAh! This for me is the weirdest feeling with a new plane. The first thing you see is it doesn't turn like your trainer did. It will roll a bit, but won't actually turn like your trainer did, until you give it some elevator to pull back. Then when you get it coming back at you....you will have to level it out on your own. It's not that any of this is much harder....it just "feels" different, and that's what alway gets my nerves going. If you remember that it will be different it may not surprise you as much. OH and use plenty of expo (between 35% - 40%)
my $.02