Dashing fighter pilots leading search (7)
I believe the answer is:
raffish
'dashing' is the definition.
('raffish' can be a synonym of 'dashing')
'fighter pilots leading search' is the wordplay.
'fighter pilots' becomes 'raf' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'leading' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'search' becomes 'fish' (fishing is a kind of searching).
'raf'+'fish'='RAFFISH'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for raffish that I've seen before include "flashy and careless" , "like British airmen?" , "Dissolute" , "Disreputable but attractive" , "Attractively disreputable" .)