Tips for Better Aircraft Visibility From MAA Newsletter Russ Roepke, Editor Tempie, TX Courtesy AMA Nat'l Newsletter * 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.)