Amphib Caravan taking off
Mark Baker has owned more than 120 aircraft in 49 years as a pilot, including a Cessna 185, a TBM 700, a CitationJet, a Bell JetRanger, and more. While he has enjoyed each for its own reasons, the former AOPA chief is particularly drawn to a certain single-engine turboprop.
“I have owned six different Caravans, both new and used. I bought my first Caravan from Jimmy Buffett in 2002 and sold it in 2005. I have logged over 2,000 hours in that one and another 2,000 hours in others. Caravans are hard to beat!” he
exclaimed, noting that the aircraft is a frequent choice of his when needing to fly across the country.
The Caravan is just a remarkable airplane. It’s so reliable. It’s so simple. It’s so rugged.
Baker’s long, and continually growing, aviation saga began in his home state of Minnesota. There was a grass strip near his childhood home, where kids would ride their bicycles so that they could watch planes take off and land. The spark was further ignited as a teen, as the high school that he attended offered a ground school course. As they say, the rest is history.
He thought that he would pursue candidacy at the United States Air Force Academy, but the rules at the time excluded him since he didn’t have 20/20 vision. Baker wound up earning his pilot’s license while attending the University of Minnesota.
“I then bought my very first airplane with a friend of mine and had to sell my Dodge van to do it. The 1968 Cessna 150 was $3,000, and I flew the bugger out of that thing, and went through one engine,” he said, noting that costs were otherwise minimal with a fuel burn of five gallons per hour.
“I flew that plane for a long time, and then as life progressed, I started commuting to Kansas City using a Piper Arrow. I stayed in retail and became part of the early days of Home Depot. In my role as division president for the upper Midwest, I commuted from Minnesota to Chicago. I transitioned to a Beech Bonanza at that time and encountered icing one night. I then decided to buy a Baron the next day.”
As Baker’s commute grew in frequency and distance, he moved into a King Air to make the now regular flight to Atlanta, before getting into Citation ownership. Aircraft would continue being invaluable in his next role as the CEO of the outdoor sports retailer Gander Mountain, which grew from 25 to more than 100 stores under his leadership. Baker stated that he has flown to every city in the country with more than 50,000 residents to conduct site visits for potential stores.
Caravans have largely been used for adventure and family flying when he has been behind the yoke.
“The Caravan is always my got-to-go-somewhere airplane. We have a home on an airstrip in the Florida Keys and own a private strip in Northern Wisconsin. Both of those are [roughly] 2,000 feet long, so the ‘van takes us there direct!” Baker said.
“The little grass strip here is about 1,800 feet long and has pretty rough grass. The other strip is only 20 feet wide. The Caravan has no difficulty at all going in and out of those kinds of places. Most of the time, it’s four or six people and gear in the plane. So, it’s kind of big for what you really need. But nobody has ever complained about having too much space in an airplane.
Put simply, the Caravan is a useful aircraft because it was designed to be a useful aircraft. Baker explained that 208s share a lot of similarities with the venerable Beech 18, which was being retired as freighters when the Caravan was being developed.
“The Caravan is just a remarkable airplane. It’s so reliable. It’s so simple. It’s so rugged,” he summarized. “Once you get used to seeing the world from a thousand to 5,000 feet (the service ceiling is much higher), it’s so enjoyable [to fly] down low, and it’s got great visibility for all passengers. I have flown to Alaska in Caravans more than 15 times, and down to the bottom of the Caribbean. I’ve been everywhere in Caravans. It’s such a fun airplane. Once you fall in love with them, you can’t go without.”
In addition to owning the Mayor of Margaritaville’s exemplary 208 (that Baker bought back after selling it), he currently has a Beechcraft Baron E55, a Piper Super Cub, and a Beech 18.
“A couple of them I’ve owned twice, including my E55 that I bought from the original owner, and put a bunch of money into making it really nice [before selling it]. They just weren’t flying it much, so I bought it back,” Baker said, explaining why the light twin is so well regarded and why he has owned 15 different serials to date.
“The E model Baron is probably the best bang for the buck of any little airplane. It generally does 200 knots. They hold a lot of fuel and, if you can handle it, can fly for seven hours. And you can go in and out of pretty much any little airstrip in it, which I do.”
Even with how glowingly he speaks about Caravans, Barons, and other planes, nothing tops a classic yellow Piper. His 1953 Super Cub was a barn find with only 300 hours on it. Since purchasing the aircraft, Baker has restored it a couple of times, gone through two engines, and has logged 3,000 hours in it.
Since retiring from AOPA in 2025, Baker has gained more time to, you guessed it – fly. Among things like BasicMed (which would now allow a pilot to fly a Caravan, by the way) and advocating for different, novel ways for aircraft owners to comply with the 2020 ADS-B mandate, the other endeavor he is most proud of the organization for championing in recent years is the You Can Fly program.
Having first learned about general aviation in a secondary school classroom himself, Baker understands the power of bringing aviation to youth. The You Can Fly initiative is only growing, and he said that the program is now available in all 50 states, with 32,000 high school students currently enrolled
And in an effort to bring his more than 15,000 hours of experience in the cockpit to others, Baker would like to pursue his CFI rating next.
“I bought all the books last spring to become a CFI. I should have done it when I was in my 20s,” he said. “I have exposed so many people to multiengine flying, tailwheel flying, float flying, and warbirds. I enjoy getting people exposed [to different aircraft] and would like to be able to sign them off for doing that.”
