I have come back to testing the VP2E (Vertically polarised 2 element antenna) which I built almost 2 years ago and looks like a double-sized inverted V OCF but electrically it is supposed to work as a driven element and a director.
I have built two of these antennas - one for 40m and one for 20m.
The other more “normal” directional antenna is my vertically polarised Moxon antenna that requires two masts, I have these built for 10m and 15m.
In both cases, I am at point 7 in your list - trying them out in the real world on summits.
I must point out however that currently from summits in Germany it’s possible to work DX - i.e. into VK & ZL even just using the simple linked dipole antenna if you are on the air at the correct time.
Here are my write-ups:
VP2E:
Vertical Moxon:
73 Ed.