After a long day battling one of Northern California’s wildfires, dozens of weary firefighters gathered in a remote wilderness clearing near the fire’s front lines to get a chopper ride back to camp. Two veteran pilots flying a Sikorsky S-61N, a workhorse helicopter that can carry 16 passengers, had ferried out two groups and returned for another. The third group loaded up and lifted off but then encountered a problem.

“They went forward on a slight bit. Then the aircraft rapidly descended and hit the hillside,” said Andy Mills, chief of helicopter operations for Carson Helicopters Inc., which owned and operated the chopper. “Right now we don’t know why that happened.”

Two days after the helicopter crashed after taking off in the remote Shasta-Trinity National Forest, authorities on Thursday confirmed what they had feared against the accident, that seven firefighters, a US Forest Service employee, and a pilot were killed either in the wreck itself or the fire that consumed the helicopter after it hit the ground.

It’s no other than the Saturn V!

Saturn V (pronounced ‘Saturn Five’), popularly known as the Moon Rocket, was used by NASA in 13 missions including the Moon landings.

The Saturn V was a three stage rocket measuring 110.6 meters or 363 feet in length and weighing 3,038,500 kilograms or 6,699,000 pounds.

For comparison, the Space Shuttle is a measly 184 feet long.

Polish insurgents liberate a German forced-labor camp in Warsaw, freeing Jewish prisoners, who join in a general uprising against the German occupiers of the city.

On July 29, the Polish Army, the People’s Army and armed civilians took back two-thirds of Warsaw from the Germans. On August 4, the Germans counter-attacked mowing down Polish civilians with machine gun fire. On August 5, more than 15,000 Poles were dead. The Polish command cried to the Allies for help, Churchill telegraphed Stalin, informing him that the British intended to drop ammunition and other supplies into the southwest quarter of Warsaw to aid insurgents. The prime minister asked Stalin to aid in the insurgents’ cause, Stalin refused and claimed the insurgents were too insignificant to waste time with.

Britain succeeded to getting some air to the Polish patriots, but the Germans also succeeded in dropping incendiary bombs. The Poles fought on, and on August 5 they freed Jewish forced laborers who then join in the battle dedicated solely to repairing captured German tanks for use in the struggle.

A small electric airplane, the ElectraFlyer C, made its first debut at the AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, last week.

The ElectraFlyer C received its airworthiness certificate in April, featuring a 5.6 kWh lithium battery with a projected 1,000 cycles. The battery has a max weight of 78 pounds and can be custom-built. It provides juice for a motor driving 45-inch superlight PowerFin propeller made of a foam core surrounded by an outer shell of carbon fiber and glass fabric.

The ElectraFlyer C has a cruising speed of 70 miles per hour and has a top speed of 90 mph. The plane can fly for 90 to 120 minutes before the battery needs recharging. Low-bat? Just plug the battery into a 110V outlet at home and you’re good to go for more than six hours or plug it into a 220V and you’re flying again in two hours.

Electric Aircraft Corporation staff said the ElectraFlyer C has great benefits, such as the silent motor, which is beneficial to pilots meaning no earplugs and brings the potential for flying into new sites. There’s also a dramatic improvement in the engine. The plane also emits less pollution and overhauls are done in a jiffy. The ElectraFlyer C’s propeller combined with the motor, the flight is practically vibration free. The economic benefit is the most compelling, since refueling the plane with a full charge of the battery will cost a whopping sixty cents.