since you will probably want to sort by more than just the status field, add an expression field to your query, use an IIf statement to set the status sort order, and sort this field ascending. Just ensure you locate this field in the query grid prior to any other field you sort on.
MYSTATUS: IIf(Left([STATUS],1)="C",1,IIf(Left([STATUS],1)="P",2,3))
PaulF