Robert L. Hamilton Scholarship

Aero Club Of Northern California

The Aero Club of Northern California annually provides scholarships to college students actively studying aviation at a Bay Area college. Successful applicants must be at least a sophomore, have completed at least 15 hours of college level aviation coursework and have a cumulative GPA of 2.5.

Robert (Bob) L. Hamilton (1936-2002) was born in Hanford, California. In 1954 he joined the United States Army and was initially trained in helicopter maintenance. After a tour in Germany, he was accepted into the Army helicopter pilot program and following his training served two tours in Vietnam as a rescue helicopter pilot. He was awarded the prestigious Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Bronze Stars, and 30 Air Medals. In 1986, he was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame at Fort Rucker, Alabama. While most of his 6,300 flight hours were in helicopters, he also piloted fixed-wing aircraft and flew professionally for several companies in the San Jose area. Many of his flight hours were in the large twin-rotor Chinook CH-47 -- the first helicopter to utilize fly-by-wire flight controls systems. Mr. Hamilton was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Mr. Hamilton was a past officer and member of the Aero Club Board of Directors. Funds for this scholarship were established by a very close friend of the Hamilton family at the time of Mr. Hamilton’s death.