Flying a small plane like this really isn't all that hard as long as a) the weather is good, b) the plane itself is working normally, and c) you have a basic understanding of how the controls work. When people are learning to fly for their private pilot's license it's not terribly unusual for people to solo (be competent enough to fly alone) after 5-10 hours of instruction. Granted many people do take longer, but it's often because their instruction is very spread out. At typically > $150 per hour many people can only afford a few hours of lessons per month.