I remember that "on the step" story. It seemed so plausible, pariticularly in a prop aircraft. And so many other little anecdotes from Fate is the Hunter. He was a great writer, simple and to the point, and I was enchanted.
Then, many years later, I read a few of the books he wrote after retiring from flying, buoyed by what he'd earned writing Fate etc. They were about sailing and I was absolutely horrified at the risks he took. He was still very much to the point but what showed through - to my by then jaundiced and cautionary eye - an elemental carelesseness.