Back when I crewed a crane we always hot refueled at flight idle not ground idle. I know some of the other companies didn't always follow the rule but we tried to void ground idle as the planetry gears in the main gerbox were not properly oiled at lower speeds. Not sure how much truth there is to it but thts what we got from the guys in the OH shop so we always tried to avoid it anyway.
Also in reference to the dihedral on the blades, I see it as being normal or at least close to it. The E model 64 ( A model 54) normally got a really good cone to the blades on take off. The F model (B model 54) seemed a bit less so but I didn't spend much time on those so I wouldn't swear to it.
Glad they made it out ok at any rate!
Max