Fijdor: My understanding is that the KC-130J (the tanker in the photo above - taken, I should have added, over the Gulf of Aden) has an inflight refuelling speed envelope which ranges from 100 to 270kts. Each refuelling pod is capable of offloading 1,100 litres per minute.
Chopper2004: You've not picked an easy one that's for sure but .. word is that your FAA 'Stallion' is serial no. 153299 and here is some of her history:
Serial No. 153299 was accepted into service on 1st March 1966 and saw a variety of assignments. It flew with the US Navy, US Marine Corps, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and back to the Navy to end its service. While with NASA, alterations and modifications were made to the helicopter such that it could not be returned to its original mission capability. That is why it carries the prefix N for permanent special test in its designator NCH-53A.
It was last painted at the Naval Air Depot, Pensacola, Florida in November 1988. Under the paint, on the right side sponson, a decal/logo with NADC was visible.
The helicopter’s last assignment being with the Naval Air Development Center, Research Development, Test and Evaluation, Warminister, Pennsylvania. The helicopter was recovered from Naval Air Engineering Station, Lakehurst, New Jersey, in July 1999, where it had been stored in a World War II blimp hangar.
June 1966: Naval Air Test Center – Service Tests, Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, (Lexington Park) Maryland
June 1967: Naval Plant Representative Officer (NPRO), Research and Technology, Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Aircraft Corporation, Stratford, Connecticut
July 1967: NATC – Service Tests, NAS Patuxent River
July 1968: US Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron HMH 461, “Sea Stallions,” Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, (Jacksonville) North Carolina
July 1968: US Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron HMH 361, “Flying Tigers,” MCAS New River, NC
February 1969: HMH 361, MCAS Santa Ana, California
July 1969: HMH 461, MCAS New River, NC
June 1971: Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment (MARTD), NAS Willow Grove, (Willow Grove/Horsham) Pennsylvania
February 1973: NPRO Sikorsky Aircraft, Stratford, CT
July 1973: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia as 543
December 1975: Modified to NCH-53A with NASA
May 1978: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Atlantic City, New Jersey
May 1981: FAA, Washington, D.C.
October 1983: Naval Air Rework Facility, NAS Pensacola, Florida
June 1984: Naval Air Development Center, Research Development, Test and Evaluation, Warminister, Pennsylvania
November 1988: Naval Air Depot, Pensacola, FL
Date unknown: Naval Air Engineering Station (NAES), Lakehurst, New Jersey
July 1999: Combat Air Museum
While with the Federal Aviation Administration she seems to have acomplished the following:
"A series of flight tests were conducted to investigate the use of long range navigation (LORAN)-C as a helicopter navigation system in the offshore New Jersey Baltimore Canyon oil exploration area. Tests were flown aboard the Federal Aviation Adminstration (FAA) Technical Center's CH-53A using a Teledyne Systems TDL-711 LORAN Micro-Navigator. The purpose of the tests was to determine the accuracy and operational usability of LORAN-C for offshore en route navigation and nonprecision approaches. The total system accuracy met or exceeded the requirements of Advisory Circular (AC) 90-45A 'Accuracy Requirements of Area Navigation Systems' for terminal and en route phases of flight, provided the proper LORAN triads were selected. The LORAN-C System did not meet AC 90-45A nonprecision approach accuracy criteria."
Not in your FAA colours Chopper but .. as far as my research suggests .. the same craft:
NCH-53A Serial No. 153299 landing at NASA's Langley Research Centre in Virginia in 1975