Well said. I think the most fun I had flying was learning, with my best friend playing "instructor" on the buddy box. He'd be yelling at me, and I'd be smiling, and just having a great time.

On the other hand, if my only opportunity to learn was at the club training day, one morning every two weeks, 9 months of the year, and it was so popular that I only got 2 flights each session (this accurately describes my club's program), then I might be more concerned about how fast before I soloed.

My rule of thumb is 4 gallons of fuel, but maybe I define "solo" differently than others. By solo, I mean very competent with a trainer. You can put it down exactly where you want to, you can take off and land in a cross wind, and you're very comfortable in all the normal trainer orientations in the sky.

One thing to understand when you answer, "Is it that hard?" is that there's a lot to learn besides just controlling the airplane. Just getting comfortable with glow engines takes a considerable amount of knowledge and experience.