Unless you’re flying IFR, there is no requirement to file a flight plan. It is recommended, but not required.
Most pilots in small planes, flying in clear weather, taking off and intending to land at the same airport won’t file flight plans.
That’s right. I’d forgotten about that dif between VFR and IFR. I’m a civvy as far as aviation is concerned, lol. When I was 17, I took and passed a year long Aviation Education course in High School, one of the few classes that actually held my overall interest. At the end of the year, we all went up one at a time in a small plane with a pilot, taking off from a small, local “windsock” airfield, the scariest part was when the Pilot let me land on my own. I hope I never have to anything like that again, because, looking back now at the age of 43, I still shiver, lol.