I think Yellow airplanes show up the best of any solid color, and back in the 1930's the military must have thought so too since the wings of their primary trainers were yellow.

Of all the trainers, the Sig LT-40 is still the best by a clear margin. it's big and only need a 40/45 size engine.

Never trust your eyes when flying. Once the airplane is trimmed out, if you command a left turn - trust that indeed the airplane is turning left and will need right to get the wings level.

Here is a tip if you do get an airplane too far out and unsure of which direction it is going. Just release the controls to neutralize the control surfaces, then pull about half up elevator with at least 3/4 throttle, the exact control throw and engine power based on what does a fairly nice not to tight loop. Assuming you don't wait until it's near crashing from flying too low to start with, the airplane will just start looping. While it's looping, you will have time to either figure out what it is doing, or have time to have another flier cover the distance from where ever he is sitting on the field to get by your side. From the normal two or three mistake altitude, you should have at least a minute to sort things out. Remember though, only elevator when you do this. Any aileron input and it will screw into the ground in just a few seconds. And it doesn't even have to be completely upright for this to work. I normally show this to my students by turning my back on the airplane and having a brief conversation with them while it loops away. One last thing, the airplane does not stay in the same place. Gravity slowly lowers the center of each loop slightly, and the loops will be drifting with the wind. But we should fly upwind as a general policy, because it also helps you get back to the runway if the engine should quit.

Oh, one more thing about depth perception. I think you will do best if you pick a flying station closest to the approach end of the field. This makes it just a bit easier to tell your position relative to the end of the runway.