Crossword Genius

A group of airmen takes to the skies, covering great distance (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

afar

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

'great distance' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'a group of airmen takes to the skies covering' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'far' 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 afar that I've seen before include "Remote" , "beyond the horizon" , "Way-out" , "Distant parts" , "At a distance (literary)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.
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