Seaplane Pilots Association Australia

David Bloomfield   Secretary/Treasurer

David joined SPAA in 2025 and immediately was nominated for the role of Secretary Treasurer. 

David is a former electrical engineer, tech entrepreneur and property developer. He started flying gliders at age 25, later gaining a PPL and now a RAAus registered Adventura 2 seaplane. He has a floating hull endorsement with James Stewart.  David has also owned a Europa (TW) and a Diamond Katana, flying it from Whitsundays to Tasmania.

Now retired he built two of his aircraft while also also enjoying riding hisvintage Harley motorbike and mountain eBike, paddling ocean ski and sailing his McGregor 26 yacht.

David Geers - Committee

David Geers has been a steadfast member and leader for SPAA , serving in President, Vice President and committee roles.   

David started flying in 1982 and his Searey XWW is known far and wide for its around Australia marathon, getting bogged on Lake Eyre in 2015 and its fully documented rebuild. 

David has lead in peak body initiatives including seaplane ownership and incident databases, his seaplane touring guide, building relationships with the commercial sector as well as running the digital back end.  David is also focussed on improving seaplane waterways access and more social events for members.

Rohan Whittington - Committee

Rohan has been a long time member of SPAA and is known for his many presentations at events like Whitsundays splash-in and AGM in 2021, also outlining his work on new propulsion systems for aircraft.  Rohan has over 35 yrs flying experience and has also helped with the water syllabus for RAAus, filling in knowledge gaps in endorsement training.

Based on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Rohan maintains a commercial and instructors rating and owns and operates Super Petrel Australia , acting as import and sales agent for the Super Petrel manufacturer, Scoda Aeronautica. He’s trained about 9 new seaplane pilots including our own Shane Finney.  

Jock Folan - Committee

John served in the RAAF as an Airframe/Engine technician for 23 years until 1998 when he started flying in GA and RA, and was also an skydiver for 20 years representing Australia at the 1989 World Championships.

On leaving the RAAF and until 2022 he was in business supporting acquisition and sustainment of Defence equipment, using his technician experience in aircraft systems. John currently owns and flys an IFR and aerobatic F33C Beechcraft Bonanza, a Pitts S2-A and a Reims C-150 tailwheel Aerobat.  His  partner Louise Fergusson owns and operates a Super Petrel LS. Flying experience also includes Jump Flying in both piston and turbine aircraft, glider towing, aerobatics with a 500 ft AGL Low Level approval, formation flying and (of course) Floating Hull, aiming to also add Floats plane flying to his list.  

Keith Clark - Committee

Keith Clark has been with SPAA since 2005, has served as President and is the editor of the newsletter.

Keith built his Searey (VH-ZRA) which first flew in 2009 and received his floating hull endorsement under Robert Loneragan.

Perhaps showing questionable financial judgement, Keith acquired two Lake Buccaneers (VH-ASS and VH-DQN) which reside at Wedderburn in Sydney's south, while his Searey resides at Smiths Lake on the NSW Mid North Coast.

Graham Bunn - Committee

Graham joined SPAA in 2022 before obtaining a floating hull endorsement with Dan Bolton.  He started flying in UK as a teenager, first going solo in gliders. An engineering career in the oil and gas industry gave him the chance to fly both gliders and powered aircraft in several countries.  He took up instructing in both GA and RA and plans to instruct in Seaplanes after gaining more hours of water ops. 

Based in Victoria at Lilydale airport Graham is a  part time GA/RA instructor, owns and operates a Twin Comanche (not on floats!) in which he has flown with his wife around most of Australia and NZ. He also flies Tiger Moths in formation and for a local joy flight operation. Graham considers himself particularly privileged to be able to fly a friend’s Super Petrel, also out of Lilydale. 

If you are an AvPlan user Graham is also part of the customer support team. 

Ivan Lizarralde - Committee

Ivan is a Whitsundays local and has been a valuable and committed committee member since 2021, highlighted by his interest in regulations in the region.  Ivan has a degree in Marine Biology and PPL from the USA. Upon arriving in Australia, Ivan began hang gliding, moving on to powered hang gliding, microlights and ultralights.

Ivan flies under RAAus and SAFA where he obtained his instructor level 2 certificate. He owns two amphibious aircraft, one microlight and one ultralight, a sky ranger and land trike used for cross country and teaching. When he goes abroad he refreshes himself in GA with flight reviews in Cessna  and Cherokees.