so i just got a mini 3 pro for christmas and im pretty confused about the whole registration thing. i live in a pretty rural area, like there's no airport anywhere near me that i know of and my backyard is huge. do i still have to register with the FAA or is that only if you fly in like public parks or something? also i heard something about your state having its own rules on top of the federal ones which is just... a lot. i dont really plan on going anywhere with it, just want to fly around my property and maybe get some shots of the house and fields.

yeah you do still need to register if the drone is over 250g, which the mini 3 pro is. it's like $5 through the FAA DroneZone website and it lasts 3 years so not a huge deal. the backyard thing doesnt really matter for registration purposes, that's a federal rule that applies everywhere in the US regardless of where you fly. now the state rules are a whole other thing and honestly they vary so much depending on where you are. some states have basically nothing extra, others have added stuff around privacy or flying over private property. i'd just google your state + drone laws to see if there's anything specific but for most rural areas you're probably fine just doing the FAA registration and using something like B4UFLY to check the airspace before you go up.

i was in the same boat a few months ago and just ended up registering because the fine if they catch you isnt worth it. the whole process took maybe 10 minutes. one thing i'd add is to look up whether your county or city has any local ordinances too because i found out my county had some weird rule about flying within a certain distance of roads that i never would have guessed. probably doesnt apply to you if youre actually rural but worth a quick check.