this is probably a dumb question but i ordered a Holy Stone drone (the HS720 i think) and it arrives tomorrow and i want to fly it this weekend. i keep seeing stuff about FAA registration and airspace apps and honestly its all a bit confusing. my drone is under 250g i think? or maybe not, i cant remember now. i live in a suburb in Ohio if that matters.

like do i actually need to do all that stuff before i even take it up for the first time or is that more for people doing it professionally. i just want to fly around my neighborhood a bit

the HS720 is definitely over 250g so yeah you do need to register with the FAA, its only like $5 and takes 10 minutes on the drone zone website. youll get a number you have to put on the drone somewhere. the airspace thing is worth checking too, B4UFLY app is pretty simple and just tells you if youre in restricted airspace. flying over your neighborhood is usually fine but near airports obviously not. dont skip the registration, the fines are not worth it even if the chances of getting caught are low

i skipped all that stuff when i first started and nothing happened to me but i also wasnt flying anywhere interesting. once i got more into it and started going to parks and stuff i realized i should have just done it from the start because some parks have their own rules on top of FAA stuff and its kind of a whole thing. the registration is genuinely not a big deal though, just do it before you go out