Crossword Genius

He flies with an awfully good bunch of chaps (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pilot

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

'he flies with an awfully' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'good bunch of chaps' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'good' could be 'pi' (old-fashioned term for pious) and 'pi' is located in the answer.
'bunch' could be 'lot' (synonyms) and 'lot' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pilot that I've seen before include "One-off programme" , "One licensed to fly" , "Small flame that ignites a gas boiler" , "This person can be found in a plane or a boat" , "may be up in the clouds" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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