Agree, looks like a great aircraft.
The photo of the DC10 next to the MD11 illustrates very well the main reason for the latter's stability issues over the years, look at how much smaller the horizontal stabilizer is on the MD11 compared to the older DC10.
Most of the accidents with the MD11, and there have been plenty were with aircraft operated by cargo carriers operating routinely at higher weights, just like a tanker would be doing very commonly.
In other words using the MD11 as a tanker is not a good idea and fortunately wasn't tried.