I have had the privilege to teach several men our age to fly and I would say that if you are only flying for six months and you are shooting landings you are doing fine. I've seen men spend years and not get to that point. Take pride in what you can do and if your club is like our two clubs here you currently fly better than most members who sit on the bench and give advice about things they can't do themselves.

'Round here we don't let people stop using a trainer until they can fly it with total proficiency. Yes, I know, the wind blows and the flat bottom airfoil of the trainer is a nuisance but the trainer is more forgiving and is called a trainer for a reason. I do loops, rolls, stall turns and other acrobatics with the student's plane just to prove it can do it. I'd say that without even discussing it with your instructor that is the only plane you should show up with ready to fly.

Now, as to those broken props, you are comiting the same error every single person I have ever trained has done. You stop flying before the wheels are rolling. It must be a psychological thing that everyone suffers. The plane gets down to five or six feet off the ground and you figure you have nailed it and you can relax. The many things the instructor has told you about lining up the landing have been accomplished and you just want to savor success. You figure that with the engine at idle and the correct line up it should just settle in. However, as you have found out by experiment that is not what happens. Without power the plane slows and without you constantly feeding in increasing amounts of up to keep the nose from dipping it will drop the nose and you will break out the nose wheel and maybe break a prop. You will ask around and the guys will tell you to buy a $20 Fults nose gear so it doesn't bend so much. They have given poor advice. The good advice is to keep flying the plane until the wheels are rolling on the ground. I stand next to people and keep saying, Keep flying it. . .keep the nose up , keep flying it. . ., keep flying it. . ." You will have to do that for yourself.