What's the fuel flow rate when you tank?
Somewhere between 1000- 2500 pounds per minute for a hornet. Sometimes one guy will get in the basket and get almost 2000+ pounds per minute flow, while the next guy won't quite get a perfect connection, but still be in the basket, and only get 1000 pounds per minute. I only know this because I was watching from inside the tanker on a trans-pac leg. When you are flying in the receiver you really can't tell the exact flow rate. I think the DCO guys who plan the movements use a 1000 pounds per minute flow rate for planning.
When using the boom method, I believe the flow rates are something like 3000-5000 pounds per minute because of the larger diameter.
I have also heard from an eagle pilot that they have this pretty cool auto-pilot type system that flies them to 100' in trail and 50' low on the tanker once they get lock-on. It was a buddy's dad who told me about it, so they must have had it for a long time.