Chris Scott
Would it have been visible from the cockpit as the a/c was inverted and going over the top?
The airport in this instance would have been behind the pilot and all but impossible to see when going over the top inverted. At this point, you rely on landmarks somewhat below and out in front (directly away from the airport) to correct if necessary so as to be on line as you pull through into the vertical on the backside of the loop. The longer the runway, the slower the airplane, the quicker the runway itself becomes the reference for line and height (in a motor-powered glider, I was never not over the runway; the only concern was not drifting or angling over the deadline). In this case, short runway, fast airplane.
The actual dimensions of the runway do have to be taken into account when visually judging height during the pullout. This one was relatively short and narrow.