The Gnat, to me, was a tiny aircaft,
True
with a small wing, a narrow track undercarriage
True
a stupidly small cockpit,
A compact, well laid-out design with everything at your fingertips. Except for the ILS channel selector. It had a proper series of red and amber captions for malfunctions, a very simple fuel gauging system and that students' friend, the marvellous offset TACAN! Whereas the Hunter cockpit was an ergonomic slum, with various lights scattered haphazardly. A ridiculous fuel gauging system that only really worked in straight and level flight, circuit breakers which almost required you to dislocate your right shoulder to reset them. The Hunter had an ancient artificial horizon and a turn and slip - whereas the Gnat had a large attitude indicator and a reasonable stand by system. The TACAN indicator in the Hunter was non-intuitive; in the Gnat it was the next best thing to a moving map. The Hunter didn't have ILS or offset TACAN, but at least the Valley jets weren't limited to Rebecca DME! The GT6 Hunter cockpit had one outstanding feature though - it only had one seat!
a nasty flying control system,
Complicated, it is true. But light and precise controls, with Q-feel which provided much better harmony throughout the speed range than the crude hydroboosters of the Hunter. In 'manual' the Gnat still had light control forces, but demanded a specific procedure and was very much a 'get you home' system. Woe betide anyone who didn't understand the longitudinal control system! The Hunter in manual had very heavy controls, but was less demanding than the Gnat - although it could wallow and Dutch roll on the approach.
and all else that was unrepresentative of the day.
I disagree. The Hunter was rather an anachronism and unrepresentative of any contemporary front line fighter of the day, but we loved it for all that! It was exceptionally easy to fly and was a delight in formation, unlike the Gnat which was very twitchy.
Silly little thing. On 3 Sqn, the Hunter F6 was in a different class - as ever.
Except that on 3 Sqn, there was also that lead sled, the T7....
Which would I prefer to fly again? BOTH!!