Song about Ted going up as trainee pilot (3,5)

'trainee pilot' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'song about ted going up' is the wordplay.
'song' becomes 'air' (air can mean a piece of music).
'about' becomes 'ca' (abbreviation for 'circa').
'going up' says the letters should be written backwards (in a down clue, the letters are written upwards).
'ted' backwards is 'det'.
'air'+'ca'+'det'='AIR CADET'

'as' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?