I've been fortunate enough to only have a couple of really decent crashes in many hundreds of flights over the last few years. I have been able to put them behind me very quickly so long as I reflect on why the crash handed and I learn from my mistake. A pilot who never crashes isn't trying to learn anything new.

With regard to covering schemes, you can have a good deal of fun figuring out ways to make your aircraft easy to spot. Here are a couple of covering designs that, while not actually visible from outer space, are usually pretty easy to spot from the ground.