Nerve of pilot changing direction (5)
I believe the answer is:
steel
'nerve' is the definition.
(I know that nerve can be written as steel)
'pilot changing direction' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'direction' could be 's' (S is an example) and 's' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'teel' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for steel that I've seen before include "Determination, metal" , "May be cold" , "Hard, strong, grey alloy" , "nerve" , "The staying power" .)