Spike has an aeroplane for the flier (9)

I believe the answer is:

thornbird

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'flier' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'spike has an aeroplane for' is the wordplay.
'spike' becomes 'thorn' (I've seen this before).
'has' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'an aeroplane for' becomes 'bird' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'thorn'+'bird'='THORNBIRD'

'the' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.