To most, the engineering job title is not synonymous with “daredevil,” but at Boone REMC, Chuck Leavitt, the engineer for three years, fits the moniker. Leavitt recently went skydiving for the second time with his family.

“I’ll tell you the story,” Leavitt said. “I had a professor in college that did something special with his kids — skydiving, deep-sea snorkeling, hot air balloon, etc. — for their 18th birthday. I just always thought that was neat, so I told my wife we would do the same.”

And so a tradition was born. Leavitt’s first time skydiving was with his son in 2008. This fall, his two daughters and wife joined him with Sky Dive Indianapolis in Frankfort, Indiana. Located at Frankfort Municipal Airport, just 30 minutes from I-465N, it is the largest drop zone in Indiana with one of the best safety ratings in the country.

“It is a little weird because you are jumping out of a perfectly good plane, but it was easier this time around,” he said. “It’s like being on top of Google Earth. You are going pretty fast and it plugs up your ears, but it is fun and worth the cost if you like this sort of thing.”

Leavitt does. He said he did quite a bit of research before making his first jump at upwards of 12,000 feet. He said that a person circles around the jump site with a tandem jumper strapped to the back. The free fall occurs until around 8,000 feet. The jumper controls the parachute until the ground landing, taking a total of about six minutes after leaving the plane.

According to Leavitt, this could be the last time for skydiving, but he won’t let the adventures stop. He and his wife are planning a hot air balloon ride for their anniversary.