cab rank

Noun

 * 1)  A group of aircraft that remain airborne in order to attack targets quickly when requested.
 * 2) * 1953, Denis George Richards, Hilary Aidan St. George Saunders, Royal Air Force: The fight is won (page 352)
 * Their presence with the army greatly heartened the rank and file, as did the appearance above the battlefield of "cab ranks" of fighters and fighter-bombers.
 * Their presence with the army greatly heartened the rank and file, as did the appearance above the battlefield of "cab ranks" of fighters and fighter-bombers.