Crossword Genius

Girl followed by a hawk in aviation history (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

kitty

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'aviation history' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.

'girl followed by a hawk in' is the wordplay.
'girl' becomes 'Kit'.
'followed by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a hawk in' becomes 'ty' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'kit'+'ty'='KITTY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for kitty that I've seen before include "potential winnings" , "Pool of bets in gambling" , "Girl's name -- pooled money" , "Perhaps a small Abyssinian" , "Collection of money" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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