ok so i bought a DJI Mini 2 last week and i've been kind of just staring at it because i dont want to break it on the first flight. i watched like 4 hours of youtube videos and now i feel MORE confused than before. everyone says different things about where to fly and how to calibrate and honestly i dont even know if i need to register it or not. im in the US if that matters.

also is there a way to practice without actually flying it outside? someone mentioned a simulator but i didnt really understand what that was about. just looking for like... the basics i guess. what should i actually do first

yeah the video rabbit hole is real, i spent like two weeks watching stuff before my first flight and half of it was outdated anyway. for the registration thing ? in the US if it's under 250g you dont need to register with the FAA, and the Mini 2 is right at that limit so you should be fine, but double check the actual weight because i might be slightly off on that.

for simulators, Liftoff and Velocidrone are the popular ones but honestly for a Mini 2 you probably dont need to go crazy with that. the bigger thing is just finding a big open empty field with no people around and doing low slow hover practice first. dont try anything fancy. just get comfortable with it hovering and then slowly move it around. the Mini 2 has a lot of stabilization built in so it's pretty forgiving for a first drone. just make sure you read through the DJI fly app a bit before you go out because there's a bunch of safety settings in there worth knowing about.

i was literally in the same spot like 3 months ago lol. what helped me was just picking one video and sticking with it instead of watching everything. also the DJI fly app has like a beginner mode that limits how fast and high it can go which is really nice when you're starting out, id leave that on for the first few sessions for sure