so im putting together an indoor track in a warehouse space we rented out for the local club and ive been going back and forth on gate spacing. the space is about 60x40 meters which sounds huge until you start laying out gates and realize the straights are basically nothing. right now im thinking something like 8-10 meter gaps between gates on the shorter runs and maybe 15 on the longer stretch along the wall but honestly i have no idea if thats going to feel too cramped for 5 inch builds or if people are just gonna blow through it too fast.

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?

8-10 meters is gonna feel really tight on 5 inch depending on what motors and props people are running. if someones on 2306 2450kv with 5x4.3 props they're gonna be pinned half the time and have basically no time to set up for the next gate. i'd push the minimum spacing to like 12 meters if you can, even if it means cutting a gate or two. the flow of the track matters more than the gate count anyway.

for mixed skill what we do at our club is basically run two separate tracks or at least two separate race formats ? faster pilots in open freestyle rounds and slower guys in a beginner bracket. trying to design one course that satisfies both is kind of a losing battle honestly.

what kind of gates are you using? we tried those cheap flag-style gates indoors once and they were a nightmare because pilots couldnt see the angle until they were basically on top of them. if your spacing is already tight that just makes it worse. proper lit gates with a clear opening made a huge difference for us even in daylight conditions indoors.