My thoughts too. One nearly empty tank with a depth of fuel is a better option than two very nearly empty tanks with a smear of fuel sloshing along the bottom.
Running a tank dry isn't a big deal, in my experience. In some types you can even get a low fuel pressure warning, change tank and not have the engine miss a beat. In others without the benefit of a low fuel pressure warning you can become familiar enough with fuel consumption to have your hand on the selector and ready a few minutes before the tank is due to run dry. At the 1st cough, change tank. Usually with little or no disruption.
An added benefit of running a tank dry is that it can give you a fairly accurate known fuel quantity, irrespective of what the gauges read. Consider a plane with a main and and aux tank, both full (or a known quantity in each prior to start). Start & take off on MAIN. A few minutes after start you establish in a cruise climb, note the time & change to the AUX. You will have good idea of fuel on board at that point - the margin of error for fuel used during the few minutes it usually takes to get airborne is very, very small. When the AUX tank runs dry you will again know fuel on board but still with the same negligible margin of error used for the fuel burnt for start & take-off.
Last edited by Tinstaafl; 27th Feb 2012 at 05:53.