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Given his former service in the Royal Regiment of Artillery (originally inspired by his love of the Cavalry) my godfather always applied equestrian terms to his aircraft, in addition to their female gender of course!
Following this trend the collective noun for horses would be:
Troop (military), team (agricultural), herd (wild), harras (hunting), stable (racing), breed (stud farm).
At garden parties my godfather would sometimes announce the arrival of friends flying in company as "the approach of the heavenly host"!
Sav