pretty much in line with what has already been said; different scheme top and bottom. from my own experience all flat black is a definite bad thing (that one lasted about 2 flights till i totalled it) but the best thing is something that is totally different not only in color but pattern as well top to bottom and also left to right. I have one that is mostly red, but has a bunch of hotrod stickers (automotive stuff) on top of the right wing and none anywhere else. it also has silver stripes on top of both wings, but not on the bottom. it has one wide white stripe on the bottom of one wing and just plain red on the other. unless i fly so far away that i can't even tell what direction i am going, it is pretty easy to tell the orientation of the plane most of the time. towards sunset or early morning or sometimes in bad weather it can still be tough to tell orientation, but for the most part the whole contrast thing works pretty well.