07/24/2026
this may veer a bit dramatic, but hey - its Friday.
end of watch: kestrel
A week ago, I officially retired one of the most important pieces of equipment I’ve ever owned.
not because it became obsolete but because it didn’t come home in one piece.
this little aircraft taught me aerial photography. it documented homes, jobsites, rivers, forests, construction projects, and places I never would’ve seen from the ground. somewhere along the way it stopped feeling like a gadget and started feeling like another camera in the bag. a small flying visual companion, if you will.
I still don’t know exactly what happened. I’ve replayed the flight a dozen times in my head. maybe one day the logs or the wreckage will tell the story. or maybe they won’t.
either way, every scratch on its airframe was earned honestly.
thousands of images.
countless flights.
zero regrets.
fair winds, kestrel.
thanks for the perspective.
(on a very real note, crashing this little guy for the final time kind of gutted me last week. it’s been an experience I’m thankful to have had for the past 2+ years. I’ll be attempting a repair, but it doesn’t look likely given the damage to the chassis and wiring. RIP and fair winds little homie)