so i got a mini 3 pro for christmas and ive been flying it mostly just in my backyard and around my neighborhood a little bit. my neighbor told me i need to register it with the FAA or something and i could get in trouble but honestly it seems kind of overblown? its just a drone in my yard. i dont really plan on going anywhere crazy with it just maybe some shots of my house and the nearby park. do i actually need to do all that or is he just being annoying

yeah unfortunately your neighbor is kind of right, at least partially. anything over 250 grams needs to be registered with the FAA, the mini 3 pro is right around 249g so you might actually be okay depending on which version you have ? the one with the bigger battery goes over that limit. but even if you dont need to register, you still technically have to follow part 107 rules or fly under the recreational exception, which means staying under 400 feet, not flying near airports without authorization, stuff like that. the LAANC system is free and pretty easy if you ever need airspace authorization near a controlled airport. its not as big a deal as it sounds but its worth spending like 30 minutes reading the FAA recreational flyer rules just so you actually know where you stand

the park thing is where id be careful honestly. a lot of local parks have their own no drone rules completely separate from FAA stuff, like city or county ordinances, and those can actually be stricter. ive seen people get their drone confiscated at a city park even though they were totally legal from an FAA standpoint. worth just looking up your specific city/county rules before you head out there