Did better than in plane, with fuel to spare (7)

I believe the answer is:

outflew

'did better than in plane' is the definition.
(to outfly someone is to fly better than them)

'with fuel to spare' is the wordplay.
'with' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'spare' is an anagram indicator (the letters go spare ie become distressed).
'w'+'fuel'+'to'='wfuelto'
'wfuelto' with letters rearranged gives 'OUTFLEW'.

I've seen this clue in The Times.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app