Making a Glider Easier to See in the Air

In the Alps during springtime, a purely white glider is almost impossible to
see against the snow - that's why dayglow stickers are required in the
French Alp. I don't have the impression that it helps enormously, but
anyways...

Apart from this scenery, I think that in a usual environment putting colored
pads on the glider is exactly what is required for camouflage.

As to silver-shing tape, or retro-reflectors on non-moving parts - thats
pure nonsense.

wrote in message
ups.com...
I have orange tips and checkerboard rudder on my LS6. I've been told
that my glider is "easy to recognize". Not sure if that means easier
to see.

I believe military visibility tests indicated that either all white or
all black were the best colors for visibility. Adding color stripes
tends to make the visible high-contrast area smaller, hence less
visible, so they should be relatively small. However, on a white
glider, my preference is to have a small amount of color for the times
we are in the vicinity of clouds, or in hazy conditions where white
doesn't provide enough contrast.

I see that France requires high-vis color stripes on gliders in the
Alps. Any comment from pilots flying there on the utility of those
high-vis markings?

Kirk
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