running a standard 5inch on betaflight 4.4, F7 stack, Xing2 2207s, Crossfire for link. video is Walksnail which i know some people have opinions about at races but it should be fine for my purposes

i guess my questions are more about the logistics and unwritten rules than the flying itself. like how early should i get there, how does the frequency coordination actually work in practice, is there etiquette around the impound area, stuff like that. also do most chapter races have tech inspection and if so what are they actually looking for, ive seen wildly different answers online

also should i bother changing my tune before the race or just leave it where it is since its been flying well

the space is roughly 40x25 meters, there's a big oak tree in the back left corner and a raised garden bed that my wife will absolutely kill me over if i crash into it so that's basically an obstacle i have to design around anyway

what i've been doing so far is using those cheap foam pool noodles zip tied to wire stakes as gates, which works okay but they fall over constantly and the wind just destroys the whole layout if it picks up. anyone found anything better for low budget markers that dont blow away? also curious what gate spacing people are running for 5inch builds, right now i have about 8 meters between most gates which feels kind of cramped but opening it up more means i lose all my obstacles

the other thing is im not sure whether to try a more technical slower track with tighter gaps or just let it be open and fast. the guys i fly with are all on different skill levels so maybe technical is better for that

running a 5 inch with 2306 motors on 6s, currently on a betaflight tune i mostly borrowed from a guy at my local club with some minor adjustments. battery is a 1300mah 6s, not the biggest pack but shouldnt be sagging that bad by lap 4 right? i log my flights and the voltage drop looks normal to me but im honestly not great at reading blackbox so maybe i am missing something.

could be my throttle management but i genuinely feel like im flying the same in the later laps. its frustrating because im not crashing, im just slow

right now im sitting around 4 meters between the two chicane gates and it feels like maybe a frame width of margin on either side when i fly it at half throttle. planning to run 3 inch toothpicks mostly but we'll probably have some 5 inch guys show up to the sessions too so i dont want it to be completely unflyable for them.

anyone built a track with mixed class in mind? wondering if theres sort of a baseline spacing rule people use or if its just vibe based on the space you have

running a 5 inch on 45 degree deadband, rates are fairly aggressive, like 850 on pitch and roll with 0.65 expo. not sure if its a rates issue or just muscle memory that needs more time. my throttle graph looks like a mess through that section compared to the smoother parts of the track. anyone been through this and figured out what actually helped beyond just flying more

we've got a mix of skill levels coming, some guys running 5 inch race quads and a few people on 3 inch toothpicks. i dont want to design something thats only fun for fast pilots but also dont want it to feel like a beginners course for the guys who actually race. anyone done something similar with a mixed skill group?

my setup is a pretty standard 5inch, running a F7 stack, ELRS on 250mw, HDZero goggle setup which i know isnt the most popular choice at races but the latency is fine. motors are T-Motor F40 2306s i think, been on this build for maybe 6 months without any major issues.

what do i actually need to bring and prepare. like i know spare props obviously but is there a list of stuff people usually forget. also any tips for not completely freezing up when the tone goes and everyone launches at once, because that sounds terrifying honestly

right now i have the gates spaced about 8 meters apart on the straightaway sections and like 5 meters on the tighter chicane part i built near the fence. been flying it on a 5inch and it feels kind of easy? like i can hit the whole lap without really pushing. not sure if i should tighten the gates more or add elevation changes. someone mentioned offset gates but i havent tried that yet.

anyone built something similar in a small yard and found a layout that actually makes you work for it

im on a 5inch with a stack thats probably a year old at this point, f7 fc, 45amp escs, 2306 motors around 2450kv running 6s. video felt okay to me but in the heat of it i kept losing the track layout in my head and ended up taking wide lines that killed my lap time. also clipped two gates which i never do in practice. other pilots seemed way more composed, like they werent fighting their quads at all.

someone after the event mentioned my rates might be too high for comp flying? i run pretty agressive rates for freestyle and maybe never adjusted them. is that actually a thing or just noise

the problem is our ceiling is only like 5.5 meters so i cant really do big sweeping elevation changes, most of the challenge has to come from horizontal layout. im running a 3 inch micro build for this space which helps but even then some of the tighter lines feel borderline stupid to attempt at anything above crawling speed. anyone done indoor tracks at this scale and figured out a good rhythm for gate density vs pilot skill ceiling

ive seen some really elaborate setups on youtube with proper inflatable gates and led strips and all that but i mean im not trying to spend $500 on gates for something in my own yard. mainly want something that replicates what a real course feels like so when i show up to races im not completely lost on how to hold a line through a gate sequence.

anyone here actually built their own stuff and can say what the minimum viable setup looks like. i care about gates being stable in wind more than how they look honestly. also wondering if anyone has opinions on the flag pole style markers vs actual hoop gates for learning race lines, seems like flags are way cheaper but i dont know if theyre realistic enough to practice with

the event page says its a MultiGP chapter race which i looked up and the course has to follow their format but i dont really understand if that means anything for how i should practice. like should i be flying 5 inch or is 3 inch gonna put me at a disadvantage on a standard layout. my 5 inch toothpick feels great indoors but im not sure if the course is gonna be outdoors or in a warehouse and i havent heard back from the organizer yet.

also do most people run their rates way lower for racing vs freestyle or is that a personal thing, ive been flying pretty spicy rates and i feel like i overcook every turn when i try to go fast

running a 5 inch on 6s, 2306 motors around 2450kv, the usual gemfan 51466 props. tune is decent i think, not getting any propwash issues. auw is around 670g all up with a 1300 lipo. just not sure if its a power thing, a tune thing, or if i need to just fly better lines or what. probably a combination but curious if anyone has been in this situation

got a bunch of the standard PVC gate frames, some pool noodles for the flag poles, and i ordered like 30 of those plastic flag ribbons from amazon. the yard is maybe 60 by 40 meters give or take so not huge but i figure i can do a decent technical course with some rhythm sections.

my question is more about layout i think. like should i be prioritizing tight technical stuff since the space is small or try to squeeze in at least one longer straight even if its not that long. also how many gates is reasonable for a course this size. i keep seeing tracks that look way more complex than the space should allow and im not sure if thats just a wide angle lens thing or what

ive watched my DVR back and it kinda looks like im going in too hot and then having to brake mid-section which throws off the whole line. but when i try to slow down earlier i feel like im giving up even more time before i even get there. its one of those things where i know what the problem is but fixing it is a different story. running a pretty standard 5 inch with like 2306 motors, rates are on the higher side but ive been flying them for a long time so its not a rates issue i dont think.

anyone dealt with this specific kind of thing? is it mostly just reps until it clicks or is there a mental cue that helped you?

like should i be scaling the gate sizes down too or just move them further apart? ive seen some people run smaller 3 inch builds on tighter tracks but i dont really want to build a whole second quad just for practice at home. anyone done something similar?

my freestyle tune is pretty snappy which feels good through gates in practice but im reading all this stuff about race tunes needing more P on pitch and less D and honestly im second guessing everything now. my quad feels good to me but i dont know if thats because its actually dialed or because ive just gotten used to its weirdness.

do i just leave it and fly what i know or is it worth trying to tweak the tune two days before a race. ive heard both arguments and cant figure out which camp is right

right now we're running gates about 8-9 meters apart on the straights and tighter on the technical sections, maybe 5-6. some of the faster guys are complaining it doesnt let them open up enough and some of the newer racers think its already too hectic. cant really win.

has anyone found a good formula for this kind of mixed skill level situation or do you just run two different track configs for different nights? also wondering if anyone has experimented with lower gates to force a more level flight path instead of spreading things out horizontally

i've watched a lot of race footage and i understand the theory ? carry corner speed, hit the apex, dont sacrifice exit speed for entry aggression, all that. but actually doing it in a race with other quads around me is gonna be different. anything specific i should be thinking about going in as a total first timer competition wise, not just flying wise

the space is roughly 40x60 feet which i know isnt huge but we've managed to fit 8 gates and two dive gates in there. im using the roto style flag gates mostly because they're easy to store. wondering if anyone has a rough formula or just general advice for gate spacing relative to the size of the quad youre designing for ? or do you just kind of eyeball it and iterate

what do i even prep for. like is there specific stuff i should be doing in the weeks before or is it just fly fly fly. also do i need to bring a ton of batteries or will i have time between heats. i genuinely dont know what race day even looks like logistically. any advice from people whove actually done this would be great, even just like what to expect

im running a 5 inch freestyle build not really a dedicated race quad so i know thats part of it but i still feel like 4 meters should be manageable at moderate throttle. maybe the gates are slightly offset? i built them out of PVC and pool noodles so they're not exactly precision engineered lol. wondering if anyone has done small backyard tracks and what spacing actually works for people who arent pros

i know the basics ? i have my HAM license, goggles are on a legal frequency, i'll bring extra props and a few batteries. but i genuinely dont know what race day actually looks like. like do they do practice rounds before heats? how strict are people about impound? is everyone gonna be annoyed that im on a freestyle build. ive watched some race coverage but that obviously doesnt tell you what its like to actually be there standing in a pilot box nervous as hell trying not to crash in round 1.

also my DVR has been flaky lately, should i bother trying to fix it before saturday or just forget about it

currently my shortest straight between gates is probably 4 meters and some of the turn sequences feel really cramped. like you almost have to slow to a crawl to make the chicane work. wondering if anyone has a general rule of thumb for gate spacing at this kind of size or if its just feel and iteration. also using those cheap foam pool noodle gates which fall apart constantly but theyre all i can afford righ tnow.

any thoughts on layout too ? do people generally do loops first and then figure out gate placement, or plan the gates and build the loop around them?

ive been working on my tune and i feel like throttle response is decent but i wonder if i just need to drop 80-100g somewhere. frame? smaller battery? i dont want to sacrifice durability because i crash enough that my frame takes hits regularly. also my rates might be the issue idk, i tend to run pretty high rates which some people say hurts you in races vs having super snappy low rate setups. anyone been down this rabbit hole