What the boys in blue may tell us about the air force (5)
I believe the answer is:
royal
'the air force' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for royal that I've seen before include "complete" , "like Alonso" , "Relating to kings/queens" , "Of queens, say" , "Sort of jelly, flush or blue" .)