Were the Kikka's engines just as volatile as the 004s?
The Kikka's Ne-20 engines had MUCH better throttle response than the Me-262's Jumo 004's, so the Ne-20's would be less volatile and a pilot would be able to add throttle faster (still much slower than modern engines though).
The Ne-20 engines required just 11 seconds to spool up to maximum rpm after engine start (very good for an engine of that time). By comparison, the Me-262's Junkers Jumo engines required 40 seconds to spool up from idle to full throttle.
The nozzle box temperature of the Ne-20 was also lower than other turbojet engines of the time.
Still, being too aggressive on the throttles of early jet engines would rather flameout the engines than cause them to blow. So, simulating an engine flameout with abrupt throttle movements would be a nice feature on all early jets.
As VP mentioned, the Ne-20 engines gave no problems during flight.
After the war two Ne-20 jet engines were taken to the US and sent for analysis by the Chrysler Corporation, where an Ne-20 was extensively tested for 11 hours and 46 minutes.
It was also noted in a U.S. Navy report, that the Japanese Ne-20 sacrificed none of the German 003 engine's good qualities, and that a Japanese plane with two Ne-20's would have equivalent performance to a German plane with two 003's due to the light construction employed by the Japanese in their aircraft.