The He 162 proved difficult to fly. JG 1 pilots treated it with scepticism and surprise. Some were enthusiastic. They were given 10 and then 20 minute flights. Concerns were noted on the extreme sensitivity of the controls, the tendency for the fighter to skid and at low speed this was dangerous. The weak join where the fuselage and wing met was another concern. The pilots were used to being well protected by a large engine and armour in the Fw 190, but the engine was on top of the fuselage and nothing other than Plexiglas offered protection. "Unteroffizier" Konrad Augner, 8./JG 1, stated the skid usually occurred below when a tight turn was made, because the ailerons constrained the circulation of air around the turbine inducing a stall. The airflow over the twin vertical stabilisers was disrupted by the axial-flow turbojet exhaust forcing the pilot to use ailerons only for turning. "Hauptmann" Paul-Heinrich Dähne, commanding II. "Gruppe", apparently forgot this flying characteristic and attempted to escape with the ejection seat but broke his neck when the canopy failed to clear sufficiently. Other pilots noted the jet wash forced the rudders to stick, forcing the aircraft to pitch down and enter a spin akin to a "falling leaf." Wolfgang Wollenweber, a He 162 pilot, remarked that Dähne had never trusted the He 162 and as a consequence, never analysed the strengths and weaknesses of the type. Wollenweber suspected Dähne may not have been aware of the danger posed by misuse of the rudders.