What is the correct weight accounting when a delivery drone carries a 4-pound package?

Part 107 applies to small unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds on takeoff, and the rule says on takeoff — including everything on board. Payload, cargo, batteries, mounted sensors and any attached equipment all count, so a delivery aircraft carrying a 4-pound package must be under 55 pounds with that package aboard. The threshold is not decorative: an aircraft at or above 55 pounds falls outside Part 107 entirely and requires a different regulatory pathway, so crossing it is a categorical change rather than a matter of degree. Two distractor patterns recur. One suggests only empty weight counts, which would make the limit meaningless for any aircraft designed to carry something. The other suggests a payload released in flight is exempt, which fails on the plain wording — the weight is measured at takeoff, when the package is unquestionably on board. Operators near the limit should weigh the fully configured aircraft rather than adding published figures.

The 55-pound limit applies to the aircraft's weight at takeoff including everything on board, so the 4-pound package counts toward it.

Part 107 applies to small unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds at takeoff, including all payload and attached equipment. Aircraft at or above that weight fall outside Part 107 and require a different regulatory pathway.

Everything On Board at Takeoff. Airframe, batteries, sensors and cargo — all of it counts.

Crossing 55 pounds is categorical, not incremental. The aircraft leaves Part 107 entirely rather than becoming subject to extra conditions.

• •Counting empty weight only
• •Assuming a jettisoned or delivered payload is excluded
• •Summing published component weights rather than weighing the configured aircraft