Well what do you know...I'm flying up to Cincinnati tomorrow morning for a possible internship during Summer '11. If all goes well, I'll be nearby to attend.
Wind is the biggest obstacle. Simply falling isn't that big of an issue. Once you hit terminal velocity or a constant speed, your body won't even know you are falling.
As for the issue of tandem vs. solo, I'll come back to that later.
I would have to say that falling on your back would be an acceptable way to solve the cube while skydiving. That takes a lot of skill and you are using just your body. There are no outside tools that are assisting you with your solve.
I agree that your solve was done during freefall. But like...
True, it only specifies freefall but I assume that most people would agree that it implies freefall in the recreational skydiving sense considering the record was created after Dan Knights. That would mean it is just you (possibly with an instructor which brings up a completely new argument)...
Whether or not he went out with the intent of beating Dan is one thing. He probably didn't. But now that he thinks he's the new holder of the UWR, I think we need to establish whether or not his solve counts. Obviously, in my opinion, it doesn't.
I'll post it here instead so I don't hijack the other thread.
Sorry. As a cuber who has solved a cube in freefall, I don't consider your solve as beating Dan Knights. As you said, you were sitting in a boat which cut out a lot of wind resistance. It's easy to tell how much easier it was for you...