• Welcome to the Speedsolving.com, home of the web's largest puzzle community!
    You are currently viewing our forum as a guest which gives you limited access to join discussions and access our other features.

    Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community of 40,000+ people from around the world today!

    If you are already a member, simply login to hide this message and begin participating in the community!

[Unofficial] Speedcubing in freefall

hawkmp4

Member
Joined
May 17, 2008
Messages
1,395
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 to solve the cube than it was for either me, Jimmy or Dan. In order to hold the UWR I would require that you freefall (solo or tandem) with just a parachute and the reserve and no tools can be used to assist you with your solve (in your case, the boat). But that's just me.

Dan Knights, Jimmy Coll and I did true free fall solves without any outside assistance. So far, I would say that we are the only three cubers eligible for the UWR.

Either way, congratulations on your solve. It looks like you had fun.

Yea, I'd have to agree.

I disagree. He did not use the raft to help him solve the cube, it just changed his environment. That would be like listening to music while at a comp; it is not directly helping you solve, but it modified your environment so that you can concentrate. As well as whether you stand or sit while solving at a comp.

He was in freefall while the cube was solved, and that is what the record is for.

Okay. I'll follow you to a comp. And I'll leave everyone else alone. But when YOU go to do a solve, I'll bring in a industrial fan and blast it in your face starting when inspection starts. I think that might change your mind.
 

Saej

Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
16
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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 to solve the cube than it was for either me, Jimmy or Dan. In order to hold the UWR I would require that you freefall (solo or tandem) with just a parachute and the reserve and no tools can be used to assist you with your solve (in your case, the boat). But that's just me.

Dan Knights, Jimmy Coll and I did true free fall solves without any outside assistance. So far, I would say that we are the only three cubers eligible for the UWR.

Either way, congratulations on your solve. It looks like you had fun.

Yea, I'd have to agree.

I disagree. He did not use the raft to help him solve the cube, it just changed his environment. That would be like listening to music while at a comp; it is not directly helping you solve, but it modified your environment so that you can concentrate. As well as whether you stand or sit while solving at a comp.

He was in freefall while the cube was solved, and that is what the record is for.

Which is against the regulations...

Fair enough. I guess another argument would be to say that others were doing it tandem, so the tandem instructor was 'helping' them skydive and freefall. So this guy jumped alone, with no help from another person.
 

hawkmp4

Member
Joined
May 17, 2008
Messages
1,395
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 to solve the cube than it was for either me, Jimmy or Dan. In order to hold the UWR I would require that you freefall (solo or tandem) with just a parachute and the reserve and no tools can be used to assist you with your solve (in your case, the boat). But that's just me.

Dan Knights, Jimmy Coll and I did true free fall solves without any outside assistance. So far, I would say that we are the only three cubers eligible for the UWR.

Either way, congratulations on your solve. It looks like you had fun.

Yea, I'd have to agree.

I disagree. He did not use the raft to help him solve the cube, it just changed his environment. That would be like listening to music while at a comp; it is not directly helping you solve, but it modified your environment so that you can concentrate. As well as whether you stand or sit while solving at a comp.

He was in freefall while the cube was solved, and that is what the record is for.

Which is against the regulations...

Fair enough. I guess another argument would be to say that others were doing it tandem, so the tandem instructor was 'helping' them skydive and freefall. So this guy jumped alone, with no help from another person.

But how does that affect the conditions for solving the cube?
 

riffz

Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2008
Messages
2,068
Location
Toronto (Canada)
WCA
2009HOLT01
YouTube
Visit Channel
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 to solve the cube than it was for either me, Jimmy or Dan. In order to hold the UWR I would require that you freefall (solo or tandem) with just a parachute and the reserve and no tools can be used to assist you with your solve (in your case, the boat). But that's just me.

Dan Knights, Jimmy Coll and I did true free fall solves without any outside assistance. So far, I would say that we are the only three cubers eligible for the UWR.

Either way, congratulations on your solve. It looks like you had fun.

Yea, I'd have to agree.

I disagree. He did not use the raft to help him solve the cube, it just changed his environment. That would be like listening to music while at a comp; it is not directly helping you solve, but it modified your environment so that you can concentrate. As well as whether you stand or sit while solving at a comp.

He was in freefall while the cube was solved, and that is what the record is for.

The whole premise of the UWR is solving a cube in the given environment, so it's silly to say that it doesn't matter.
 

ajmorgan25

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
369
Location
USA
WCA
2008MORG01
YouTube
Visit Channel
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 to solve the cube than it was for either me, Jimmy or Dan. In order to hold the UWR I would require that you freefall (solo or tandem) with just a parachute and the reserve and no tools can be used to assist you with your solve (in your case, the boat). But that's just me.

Dan Knights, Jimmy Coll and I did true free fall solves without any outside assistance. So far, I would say that we are the only three cubers eligible for the UWR.

Either way, congratulations on your solve. It looks like you had fun.

Yea, I'd have to agree.

I disagree. He did not use the raft to help him solve the cube, it just changed his environment. That would be like listening to music while at a comp; it is not directly helping you solve, but it modified your environment so that you can concentrate. As well as whether you stand or sit while solving at a comp.

He was in freefall while the cube was solved, and that is what the record is for.

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) falling through the air with a parachute attached to your back.

I understand where you were going with the music analogy, but it just isn't the same. Some people might feel a bit more relaxed than others while listening to music and it may help but it doesn't create a completely different environment. Lord's use of the boat completely altered his environment. He got rid of almost ALL wind resistance. Considering that this UWR is about solving a cube in freefall, which I would assume involves the different given environment like riffz said, he was getting rid of the biggest obstacle of all - wind.
 
Last edited:

Whyusosrs?

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2010
Messages
494
I'm going to pull you down a highway. You strapped onto a skateboard. We're going 120 miles per hour. Good luck.
 

Lord

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
Messages
8
Location
Dresden, Germany
WCA
2008FICH01
YouTube
Visit Channel
hey guys,
nice discussion going on here - interesting points!
i agree that the missing relative wind is helping a lot to handle the cube.

hey, but what if i just did the skydive falling on my back, solving the cube looking to the sky - then also there would be no wind - still no record??

come on. it's a solve during freefall. i did not have a tandem instructor pulled to my back, which also could be considered as helping conditions. if you do a tandam skydive you are going down much slowlier than when you skydive on your own. and you don't have to worry about stability of your body, about altitude or anything else.

do your skydiving license and we both do the boat jump together, solving two rubiks cubes simultaneously and we'll see who's the record holder :)

after all it was a fun jump, the best i've done so far, and i don't care about UWR or not -- great experience!
 

Saej

Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
16
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
the biggest obstacle of all - wind.

I figured the biggest obstacle of all was gravity.

What effect would gravity have on solving a cube though?

Just the fact that you a plummeting towards the Earth and if someone goes wrong, it could mean death.

And Lord's argument concerning tandem skydives is warranted, I think. He was tossed around on that boat during the solve, whereas some of the tandem solves I've seen it is a relatively stable condition of a straight fall (I assume due to the drogue chute). On top of that, like Lord also said, he still has to worry about the rest of the dive. The tandem people are just there for the ride.
 

ajmorgan25

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
369
Location
USA
WCA
2008MORG01
YouTube
Visit Channel
hey guys,
nice discussion going on here - interesting points!
i agree that the missing relative wind is helping a lot to handle the cube.

hey, but what if i just did the skydive falling on my back, solving the cube looking to the sky - then also there would be no wind - still no record??

come on. it's a solve during freefall. i did not have a tandem instructor pulled to my back, which also could be considered as helping conditions. if you do a tandam skydive you are going down much slowlier than when you skydive on your own. and you don't have to worry about stability of your body, about altitude or anything else.

do your skydiving license and we both do the boat jump together, solving two rubiks cubes simultaneously and we'll see who's the record holder :)

after all it was a fun jump, the best i've done so far, and i don't care about UWR or not -- great experience!

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 I said, I thought it was assumed (using Dan Knights as precedent) that the solve would be done during a normal skydive similar to the way that he did it. As for the tandem instructor, I didn't chime in on that for now because that would bring up a completely different debate. For the time being, I was focusing on the use of the boat.

I am actually considering getting my skydiving license. After my first jump, I got hooked and want to get licensed. I watched your AFF 1-7 video and it looks like you completed each level on the first try. Are the courses difficult? Also, what are the RW jumps that you did at the end?
 

ajmorgan25

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
369
Location
USA
WCA
2008MORG01
YouTube
Visit Channel
the biggest obstacle of all - wind.

I figured the biggest obstacle of all was gravity.

What effect would gravity have on solving a cube though?

Just the fact that you a plummeting towards the Earth and if someone goes wrong, it could mean death.

And Lord's argument concerning tandem skydives is warranted, I think. He was tossed around on that boat during the solve, whereas some of the tandem solves I've seen it is a relatively stable condition of a straight fall (I assume due to the drogue chute). On top of that, like Lord also said, he still has to worry about the rest of the dive. The tandem people are just there for the ride.

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.
 

Lord

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
Messages
8
Location
Dresden, Germany
WCA
2008FICH01
YouTube
Visit Channel
I guess you could just further split up the UWRs into tandem and solo...

This was a suggestion I was actually going to make.

yep, that would probably be the best solution :)
anyway, solving the rubiks cube under funny or extreme conditions is pretty much just being done because of the fun of it, ain't it?

oh, and i'll try solving it flying on my back, should be working as well with a little practice. much less fun than playing around with a rubber boat, though.
 

CUB3R01

Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2009
Messages
178
Location
Alabama
I think that someone should attempt to solve do a blinfolded solve in freefall... that would take some serious concentration.
Great job though!! That seems like alot of fun.
 
Joined
Oct 26, 2009
Messages
79
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
YouTube
Visit Channel
You were mentioned on New Zealand national radio this morning.
They were all "Yeah and this guy solved a Rubik's cube while skydiving in a rubber boat!?!??!??!"
And then this guys like "Yeah Polly not all that hard you just have to know the urgh a few rules."
Anyway people were like wow.
 
Top