This basket is made up of aluminum spokes fastened to a canvas outer ring, which inflates like a parachute when it is extended into the air stream. At the center of the basket is the female half of the hookup coupling. The hose is extended off a storage reel by the tanker when the receiver aircraft approach, and retracted when refueling is completed.
Different planes have different mounting places.
This led to innumerable questions from the uninitiated as to the purpose of that ugly thing growing out of the nose. When I say easy however, I do not mean totally without challenge. They sent me up with a second tour pilot in the right seat. Getting there was no big deal either, but now the fun started. My rate of closure on the basket was probably about one knot.