Aviation internship helps students get their wings

“Yes!” Chief Flight Instructor Todd Christopherson said Thursday morning, March 16, as Sergio Orozco II touched down from his first solo flight, at Las Cruces International Airport.

Sergio, a 17-year-old senior at Centennial High School, is one of three Las Cruces high school students participating in an aviation internship program that is a partnership between Bellator Aviation, LLC of Las Cruces and Las Cruces Public Schools’ Academic Career Experience (ACE) program.

“It was great,” Sergio said after the flight about Bellator’s Piper Cherokee Warrior II. “At first, I was very nervous. Everyone on the ground was watching me.”

Sergio said he “felt more comfortable” as he got into the air.

“I felt confident in my ability,” he said. “It was a great day.”

Sergio plans to attend New Mexico State University and study aerospace engineering and hopes to become an airline pilot.

With this step completed as Sergio works toward a private pilot’s license, he could be a fully licensed pilot before he is 20, Christopherson said, and could “go fly anywhere.”

“He loves it. He’s not going to stop smiling all day,” said Christopherson, Bellator’s chief flight instructor who has about 20 years of experience and has taught commercial, private and military airplane and helicopter flying.

“Nervous, excited, a little bit of everything,” was how Orozco’s father, Sergio I, felt as he and his daughter Veronica watched his son’s solo flight. “I’m real proud of him.”

“We call him ‘Mr. Chill,’” Sergio I said.

“Since the day he was born, he’s been sooo calm,” said Sergio II’s mother, Sylvia B. Orozco, a teacher at Las Cruces High School. “I know a lot of moms say they had perfect babies, but out of all four of ours, he was always the most chill. His intelligence is amazing, he has maintained at minimum a 3.5 GPA for the last four years of high school.  His dad and I cherish our children (Sergio II, Veronica, Abigail and Carolina). Our son's dedication is the resultant product of great sacrifice and hard work,” Mrs. Orozco said. 

The aviation internship is “a life changing program,” Bellator managing owner Daniel Roberts said. “A private pilot license is the first step toward a very prosperous career for these students. And by funding the private pilot license for the students, we are able to eliminate a huge barrier to entry into this career field. Almost all professional pilot programs across the country require the students to pay out of pocket for this level of license as loans and scholarships only start assisting at the next license level.”

Senior Emily Bai and junior Nicolas Nevarez, both of Las Cruces High School, are also enrolled in the aviation internship program with Orozco. Nevarez also has soloed, and all three students are on track to have their pilot’s licenses within the next three months, Daniels said.

His students “kind of get in my heart,” said Christopherson, who came to the area with the United States Army when stationed at Fort Bliss in 2015. “Their success is my success. I love it. I just love it.”

Christopherson has flown all over the world throughout his career, he said, which “allows for a truly graduate level of training unparalleled at any flight training program for high school students in the Southwest.”

“We are excited to see the success of this program,” airport Administrator Andy Hume said. “The industry needs well-trained young people to replenish the ranks of pilots throughout the country. This program is a great step toward a long and rewarding career.”

Roberts, Anthony Ferrio and Roma Ferrio founded Bellator Aviation in the fall of 2019, Daniels said. 828 Productions CEO Todd Lundbohm joined the ownership group in 2022.

Visit www.bellatoraviation.com.