The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word FUSELAGE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
F
U
S
E
L
A
G
E
More clues leading to the result FUSELAGE
- Female need to have large mature body
- Join trail east to find body of fighter?
- Flare framing convict's body
- Join convict, English, in body of plane
- Join end of queue after delay – some flier!
- Tire, grabbing exercise? Energy is needed for body
- Integrate prisoner, European, in flier’s part
- Safeguard for example, aluminium going back in plane’s body
- Body to blend short beer
- Abrupt incitement brought about heavy blows over body of fighter?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "body of fighter" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case body of fighter = fuselage.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does FUSELAGE mean?
FUSELAGE noun- (aeronautical) The main body of an aerospace vehicle; the long central structure of an aircraft to which the wings (or rotors), tail, and engines are attached, and which accommodates crew and cargo.