Sorry Nipva, my bad - perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I deliberately didn't say 'view' but 'perspective'.
My point was I was looking at the two machines from having very little experience of either, whereas you had plenty in both.
And of course having viewed both aircraft from our diametrically opposed perspectives, the conclusions were nevertheless the same!
Out of interest, did students solo the Hawk much quicker than the Gnat? My own very limited experience did suggest this might be the case.