Another thing, and I realize this more as I am going for my commercial, if you are going to be getting other ratings, or need x-cntry hours for your private, always try to kill two birds with one stone. If I was going to fly out 30 miles, I would just add another 20 and land somewhere to get x-ctry hours that can be used for other ratings. I would make every dollar count.
When I did my solo long x-cnty for my private back when it had to be 300 miles, if I would have been thinking about the commercial at the time, I would have gone 250 miles from my original starting point to satisfy the requirement for the commercial solo long x-cntry at the same time. I went over 200 miles from my original starting point, but not 250. I would have put the extra miles in and now wouldn't have to be spending the money for a solo x-cntry with one point 250 miles straight line distance from my starting point.
I know this isn't what you asked but just thought I would throw it in due to the nature of your post.
