A bit of thread drift (sorry Joe),
Having just done PPL groundschool a second time, 33 years, and 6000 hours later, I am stunned at the amount that there is to know about flying light aircraft (let alone jets), which just cannot be taught. The major reason for not teaching is obviously the total classroom time available - the course just cannot be able to take 300 hours. But, I also wonder how many groundschool instructors would not be able to teach the broader content if they had to (or correctly answer the odd question which was at the periphery of the core content).
Which takes me 'round to:
students who aspire to be pilots can only see the shiny jet at the end
Unfortunately, yes.
Every job done well, involves starting at the beginning, laying a good foundation, and understanding the peripherals beyond the core task. Sweeping hangar floors, washing planes, pumping gas, and otherwise getting you hands dirty on non-flying tasks are all a part of this. Not so much because you need to know
how to do them, but so those who can influence your future know that you
can do them, and are willing.
So how does this relate to "the hard part of flying? The hard part is not only paying for it, but finding a path forward, which will carry you away from having to pay for it, as early in your career as possible.
Our industry's problem is that we're getting to the stage where many of those who are making the pilot hiring decisions, have themselves, never washed a plane, or swept a floor (even their own mess!).
So it's up to the new pilots to roll up their sleeves, andseek out the "hart work, to assure they have a good foundation. To prevent total thread drift, I will continue this in the "Attitudes vs Experience" thread, where it probably belongs.... Sorry Joe, new ideas...