A handy stabiliser on the flight (8)
I believe the answer is:
banister
'flight' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'a handy stabiliser on' is the wordplay.
'a' becomes 'an'.
'handy stabiliser' becomes 'bister' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' is an insertion indicator (as in clothing 'on' a person).
'an' put into 'bister' is 'BANISTER'.
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for banister that I've seen before include "Staircase railing" , "Stair rail" , "support at hand on flight" , "Support running alongside stairs" , "Staircase handrail" .)