Sounds like our hero knew immediately he was low on fuel judging by his
quick thinking actions
Which makes you wonder why he took off like that
Good question stilton.
I've heard of more than one pilot regularly use a similar method to milk fuel from dry tanks on spotting work over the beach.... long time ago, never did it myself and I don't condone it.
These guys never cared much for the rules & probably don't read this forum.