Photo: U.S. Air Force plane prepares for take off under giant double rainbow on Dec. 21 “Doomsday”

December 22, 2012 Military Aviation

David Cenciotti

Taken on the day of the alleged Mayan Apocalypse Dec. 21, 2012, the following cool photo shows pilots preparing the cockpit of a U.S. Air Force T-38 Talon jet at Beale Air Force Base, California.

The supersonic jet trainers are used for training of U-2 pilots since they have similar flight controls (and lower operating costs than the “Dragon Lady”).

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.