Our scholarship program is exclusively for highly motivated residents of Upstate South Carolina that have a passion for aviation as a career and are currently in a flight program at GMU. All applicants should have completed their written exam for the rating they are currently pursuing.   

  
A limited number of scholarship recipients will be selected based on a completed application packet as well as phone and/or in-person interviews.   Please note: we only offer partial scholarships meant to be a "helping hand" to recipients.

Robert Somers was a lifelong aviation enthusiast. In over 50 years of flying he amassed nearly 34,000 logged hours in various types of aircraft and helped train hundreds of young pilots. He was a “pilot’s pilot”, always serious about doing everything the right way and always being prepared for any situation. 

He felt a special bond with others involved in the flying world and had a special name for them: “Troop”. It was a term of endearment expressing his fondness for other “flyboys” (and girls). He figured if you were into flying that you were “OK” and Troop was his way of acknowledging that.

As a teenager, Bob fell in love with flying. At age 16, he and his good friend JJ Quinn decided to take flying lessons at the local airstrip in their home town of Culpeper, VA. Quickly they discovered that they wanted to fly as much as possible and enlisted the help of Bob's brother Ken to purchase their first airplane, a 1943 Piper J-3 Cub (N51570), for $313. He had the airplane before he ever had a car, saying he could ride a bike or hitchhike to the airstrip. The airplane was something that they really couldn’t afford, having to come up with $6 payment per person every month plus $0.28 per gallon of fuel, but they paid for it by doing odd jobs, selling scrap and giving joy rides to locals. He quickly completed his solo flight and by 1954 he had his Commercial and Instructor ratings in hand.

After high school, Bob enlisted in the Army where he spent 3 years as an aircraft mechanic. He continued flying while in the Army, as much as time and money allowed though both were is short supply. 

After his discharge from the Army he headed south and began his professional flying career with Johnson Air Services and Easley Lumber Company. Later he was hired by Stevens Aviation where he flew for over 40 years. While at Steven’s he also did marketing/advertising work and Aero Club/instructing.

In addition to flying, Bob was an accomplished writer, artist and avid tennis player; a true “modern renaissance man”. He published dozens of articles in publications such as “Professional Pilot”, “Flying”, “Flight Lines” and even non-flying related publications like “Sandlapper Magazine”. He even published a book of short stories about some interesting people he encountered during his career, called “The Cuban Eight”. He was a painter and illustrator and produced hundreds of works, including a collection of historic and modern aircraft.

Bob was an enthusiastic ambassador for flying as a profession or hobby and was always willing to share his love with anyone who was interested.  It is in that spirit that we are proud to provide scholarships to others who share a love for flying and help them become a “Troop”.