Baker Aircraft is a licensed FAA Commercial Air Carrier and approved contractor for the federal government.

Baker Aircraft has been involved in telemetry flights, game surveys, waterfowl census every year since our incorporation in 2004.  We have worked with the Bend Fish and Game office and out of Lakeview keeping track with telemetry of the Mule deer in central Oregon from Lakeview up to Bend. We have ongoing contracts with the Baker City office doing antelope surveys, wolf telemetry, sage grouse surveys, ducks and geese counts, goats and bighorn sheep telemetry. We provide support with the LaGrande office doing wolf telemetry, elk counts, and cougar telemetry. We also work with the Wallowa county Fish and Game doing Big Horn Sheep, Wolf, and Moose telemetry.  The ODFW office John Day has contracted with us to provide Rocky Mountain goat telemetry in the Strawberry Mountains. Troy has flown hundreds of hours doing mule deer telemetry in the Hells Canyon area for Idaho Power as well from 1998 to 2000. We will always put safety and job quality as our first priority if given the opportunity. In Addition, Baker Aircraft successfully completed its seventh exclusive use fire contract for the state of Oregon in the summer of 2010.    

Our pilots have a good understanding of the local topography and the areas where the animals can be found during surveys and how to work the wind and sunlight conditions to give the wildlife observers the best ride, lighting conditions and safety of flight for seeing the animals.

Troy Woydziak has been flying since 1988 and has been current in 135 operations since 1993. He has flown multiple single and multiengine airplanes for air attack, fire suppression and ODFW flights since 1994 and was carded in heavy tanker operations through 2004.  He has over 10,900 hours total time, over 5700 hours of low level experience over 8400 hours of altitudes up to 6500 feet and over 2000 hours of wildlife inventory experience.  He also is a commercial helicopter pilot with over 2800 hours experience doing game surveys, telemetry, animal capture, predator control, wild horse capture, fire fighting with a bucket and long line and flight instruction.  He has grown up in the northwest and is very familiar with mountain flying, low level safety, local weather and topography. He has had no accidents and has a good working relationship with government personnel.

Mike Smith has been flying for more than 40 years and has accumulated over 6000 hours with about 1200 hours of that doing low level fire work, over 5000 hours of altitudes up to 6500 feet.  Mike is also familiar with mountain flying, low level safety, local weather and topography in the local area and has done most of his commercial flying with Baker Aircraft.  Mike has done game surveys, telemetry flights for sage grouse, wolves, sheep, deer and mountain goats in the local area.  He has had no accidents and is current in part 135 operations. 

We use a Robinson R-44 II helicopter, Cessna 172L, Cessna 182 and a Turbo Cessna 206 aircraft for telemetry.  Each aircraft is equipped with TAC-2 switch boxes, the TNR-3000 noise cancelling unit and H Yagi style antennas.  Each one of the airplanes are 337 certified with the Federal Aviation Administration and certified in both the normal and restricted category.  All aircraft are fully equipped with four place audio making it possible for all crewmembers and the pilot to effectively communicate while hearing the telemetry signal.  We can provide GPS mapping of the routes being flown.  All of our aircraft also contain an Automated Flight Following system enabling us to maintain up to the minute location of the aircraft. 

If you need detailed data on the animals such as a visual on the collars, ear tags or if the animals have a new baby with them then the Telemetry equipped Helicopter is the way to go.  It also works well for fish tags where you can proceed slowly.  It is also faster than our Cessna 172 with a cruising speed of about 120 knots it can get you in and out without wasting a bunch of time circling trying to get a visual.