Flying aviators in a number of forms (10)

I believe the answer is:

variations

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'a number of forms' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'flying aviators in' is the wordplay.
'flying' indicates an anagram.
'aviators'+'in'='aviatorsin'
'aviatorsin' with letters rearranged gives 'VARIATIONS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for variations that I've seen is " changes".)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times (Crosaire) and the Irish Times.

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