Ace military pilots coming up from a distance (4)
I believe the answer is:
afar
'from a distance' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'ace military pilots coming up' is the wordplay.
'ace' becomes 'a' (abbreviation).
'military pilots' becomes 'raf' (Royal Air Force. I am not sure about the 'military' bit.).
'coming up' says the letters should be written backwards (in a down clue, letters go up).
'raf' in reverse letter order is 'far'.
'a'+'far'='AFAR'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for afar that I've seen before include "Distant parts" , "Distant, not near" , "At a distance (poetic)" , "from baseline to baseline?" , "Way-out" .)