HB,
My good friend Engines will doubtless correct me here, but the energy provided by the cat stroke would not be improved by making the run longer; in fact, in might start to slow? Your assumption about lifting light on fuel and AAR is a valid one, and used by several aircraft to achieve max ordnance at take off, whilst still retaining a margin against, say, the loss of an engine. Unfortunately, Naval AAR is somewhat lacking at the moment (and, save possible "buddy-buddy") not an option of the RN/RAF F-35 Sqns when embarked, unless, of course, they operate within range of land based AAR.
Helicopters are forever making fuel/payload/range trades - exacerbated if you are operating at high Density Altitude. For example, in the CH47 you'd normally fly full internals in the UK, whereas in Afghan you'd typically refuel to approx 2/3rds to give you some planning margin (as, with the exception of the Mk3, the CH47 doesn't have a fuel dump). If you are lifting an ultra-heavy load you would plan to burn down to the min required fuel. This was always a challenge in the FI as you could often be tasked to lift heavy items some way away from the nearest fuel.....