Tankengine
On a lot of the routes I flew if I didn’t do as I have stated it would have left me with not enough fuel in the mains to make it to a suitable enroute alternate in the event of an engine failure. Cairns direct to Port Moresby or Missima was a long way over water not to have enough fuel if a donk should stop. A little bit of lateral thinking was required to complete the job safely and in accordance with our Ops Manual, AOC and the regs. The Pilots Operating handbook only states you should burn 90 minutes from the mains if you intend to burn the full aux tanks dry in one go. It is allowing for the lowest common denominator or worst-case scenario. They are covering their ar*es.
