Keith Newton
That sounds a lot like a younger ME. I was never bothered by working at height that most of my crew feared. I did lots of cutting, holding the saw upside down fingering the switch with my little finger. The trick to eliminating kickback is to always allow the side away from the support to fall away. If you have a helper wanting to assist, they can cause the bind by lifting too high, or not moving to open the cut especially toward the end.

Seeing your post reminded me of when I built my cabin. It had to be over 8' off the ground. I was up on a ladder with a 16" Makita beam saw making cuts from a ladder.