The "ghost gun" 3D printing laws going around had me thinking about "ghost drones". I think a lot of the NDAA and FAA noise around drones is an attempt to gain control over domestic drone use. They're criminalizing flying a drone within 1km of ICE activities - which is impossible to know or avoid.

But you don't need an expensive flight controller, fancy ESC, or even brushless motors to get your basic drone in the air. An esp32, some mosfets, servos (for a wing), and brushed motors will get the job done. Will it compete in multiGP? Hell no. But it'll fly and it'll cost like $15.