* Avoid single color aircraft, participially solid silver or solid dark colors.
* Beginners are advised to color the bottoms of aircraft wings a dark color, and tops a light color.
* Orientation recognition can be enhanced by placing large dark circles under the wings and a starboards pattern or straight line pattern on the top.
* Any series of adjacent colors on your aircraft that are intended to facilitate orientation should be gray scale opposites, not color opposites.
* Don't rely on intricate patterns, they tend to blend together to form an endless fuzz approximately 100 feet away.
* A bright red or orange leading edge on your wing and horizontal stabilizer will help you keep your wing level during landings.
* A color line parallel to and above the fuselage horizontal thrust line provides a good angular reference on the glide path prior to the final turn.
* For better loops, make the wing tips and horizontal stabilizer red or orange and the body background a very light color such as white or yellow. This helps you tell weather the wings are flat.
* Curved or slanted horizontal color lines on the fuselage can contribute to disorientation on horizontal passes, upsetting entry loops.
* Gray tinted sunglasses are recommended. Orange tinted sunglasses discouraged.
* An aluminum spinner and a light colored nose can result in off centered maneuvers due to an ill fated front edge. (editor's note: "ill fated front edge"? If you say so.)
* Try out different color schemes and patterns on small scale balsa gliders to see how well you can see them in the air.

(Editors note: It's obvious that Dr. Suding is most probably related to the field of optometry. For this reason I would consider this professional GOOD advice. I do however own a pair of orange tinted sunglasses that I use on overcast days with great success. They seem to brighten up the background and help me considerably. I also hope that by the next flying season, this information helps and I don't hear, "I can't see the !@#$ thing" as much.)

Gray Scale (Highest visibility colors listed first)

 

Fluorescent Orange White Light Yellow Light Orange Dark Yellow Light Gray Light Blue Light Red Light Brown  Light Green Dark Gray Dark Red Dark Blue Dark Brown Black Dark Green