Crossword Genius

Flight unit (5)

Ross

I think it could be either:

Which length description are you looking for?:

4

5

stair

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'flight unit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'unit' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'unit' could be 'air' (air unit is a kind of unit) and 'air' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'st' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stair that I've seen before include "A step on the way up or down" , "one's seen in flight" , "One step in a series" , "Set of steps" , "means to go down" .)

I've seen this clue in the Penny Press, the Evening Standard, The Guardian, the King Feature Syndicate and The Wall Street Journal.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app