Meet the Team

Mike Borfitz is a Vietnam war veteran, and life member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and the Society of Flight Test Engineers (SFTE), he earned a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1980.

Mr. Borfitz is the CEO of Kilroy Aviation, based at Salisbury Regional Airport, MD. He is an ODA Administrator and Management Designated Engineering Representative (DER) with FAA delegated authority to approve data in the technical disciplines of Flight Test and Powerplant, Parts 23 and 25. His 42 years of engineering experience includes 23 years of public service with the FAA and 13 years with the Boeing Company, plus a wide variety of private experience as a contract DER and regulatory & safety consultant. He is in demand as an expert witness in civil litigation involving aviation safety as well as type and production certification. He has written a variety of articles on subjects such as FAA certification of unmanned aerial systems (drones), FAA safety, certification and delegation.

It has been a process in patience and perseverance. Starting out as a draftsman on a drawing board working for my father and his companies, The Hopkins Company, and Helitronics, Inc. in 1980, I prepared avionics integration wiring diagrams and component schematics while also in college. This experience lead me into oil field survey tool product development, developing detail designs of parts and components, fabricated on a metal machining lathe. In addition to machine parts development, I also assisted with development of control systems for the tools which mainly consisted of an LRU. Between the two very different types of equipment, I learned electronic packaging, which in itself, is a design craft developing printed circuit boards and their assemblies of through hole fabrications of electrical components. This period is most cherished because it became the background for detailed development and the practicality limits of design and fabrication.

Oil field equipment development experience lead me into my “defense company” design experience using computer aided design and drafting. I completed my education during my time with the defense company where I had to learn how to manipulate the company system in order to earn my education two ways; of course showing up for class and passing those classes , but also filling out a form with reasoning of how a particular class was going to help me with my job, so that my supervisor would sign the form and I could move it up the chain for payment of my class. A grade of “C” or better was the only criteria required to get my education paid.

One of my favorite courses in college was a writing course. It was the most important part of the education process of my life, because without it, I would not be where I am today experiencing the work opportunities I have been provided.

Defense company experience where you are allowed to actually develop flight test instrumentation alongside an electrical designer of circuitry is a priceless education in how to develop out of thin air a variety of components used to acquire and collect structural, electrical, and flight data while an aircraft is flying. This became the second most important phase of work experience, because I got to see how an airplane is fabricated, and how parts going into that fabrication are being manufactured. IT IS ALL “PROCESS”. Processes are developed for two reasons, 1) there is a need for a product/tool to perform a task, and 2) a process does not exist for fulfilling that need.

The development of processes is a creativity process in itself using the tools at hand and/or developing another tool/tools because it does not already exist. This ultimately is why Kilroy Aviation exist. My partners and I recognize that in order to promote a safe aircraft, a process for the promotion of safety is required. New clients come to us for that process and challenge us and our methodologies for ensuring safety and reliability.

Kilroy Aviation is an educator of the Regulatory Compliance Process and Safety Management. During the process journey, learn something every day about the process and its applications has been a lifelong education for us, the partners of Kilroy. My Partners and I would like to also share that education with prospective clients.

Nick is both the head of the Kilroy Aviation (candidate) ODA Unit as well as an FAA Consultant DER. He has 17+ years of experience completing over two hundred Type Certification (TC/ STC/ TSO) projects in a broad range of aircraft/helicopter and types of projects, including Boeing, Airbus, King Air, Bell, Gulfstream, Falcon, Bombardier, Sikorsky. Holding key accountable positions to plan and deliver aircraft projects, he has served both on the Applicant side (Engineering, Certification) and the FAA Designee side (DER, Unit Member or ODA Administrator).

He started in aviation certification by managing STC projects and has held diverse positions including Program Manager, Chief Engineer, and Vice President of Engineering and Certification, Significant projects including delivering two simultaneous widebody (A340 & Boeing 777) Very-VIP full custom interiors. He also stood up two Part 145 Repair Stations, one as the Accountable Manager, and then achieved Parts Manufacture Authority (PMA) in two locations. An FAA Designated Engineering Representative (DER) since 2007, Nick is delegated in aircraft and rotorcraft (23, 25, 27, 29) as both an Electrical Systems and Management DER. He worked for BaySys Technologies for eight years and was the Lead ODA Administrator for PATS Aircraft Systems/ ALOFT AeroArchitects for five+ years, and is a founding member of Kilroy Aviation, providing premier certification, FAA approval and ODA services to clients for aircraft, rotorcraft and unmanned aircraft systems. He has supported Return to Service (part 145/43) activities at many repair stations since 2007, approving major repairs, repair specifications and providing PMA approvals.

Prior to aviation, he retired as a 20-year US Naval Officer, specializing in combat weapon systems such as AEGIS, Tomahawk, Harpoon, Standard missiles, and Naval Communications.

Nick is the current Industry Co-Chair of the FAA & Industry CPG implementation team, charged with implementing better practices in aviation certification. This working group, with participation by ACO & MIDO Managers, representatives from GAMA, AIA and AEA, as well as ODA Administrators from leading US aviation companies, is charged to promote best practices and continuously improve guidance for aircraft certification.

See the CPI Guide - Here