Flight ( military unit ) A flight is a military unit in an air force , naval air service , or army air corps . It usually comprises three to six aircraft , with their aircrews and ground staff ; or , in the case of a non - flying ground flight , no aircraft and a roughly equivalent number of support personnel . In most usages , multiple flights make up a squadron . The " flight " is also a basic unit for intercontinental ballistic missile s . In the Fleet Air Arm a flight could be as few as 1 helicopter operating from a smaller ship . French equivalent is " escadrille " . Origins . The use of the term " flight " to describe a collection of aircraft ( typically four in the early days of aviation ) dates back to around 1912 . Winston Churchill claims to have invented the term while he was learning to fly with the Royal Navy ' s embryonic air service . It has also been suggested that the term was coined by technical sub - committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence which was examining the British air arrangements around the same time . Commonwealth usage . Aircraft flights . In the United Kingdom Royal Air Force and the air forces of the Commonwealth , from where much air force terminology emanated , an aircraft flight , in the first decades of air forces , was commanded by a flight lieutenant , a rank equivalent to captain in armies and other air forces , or a naval lieutenant . More recently , however , it has become common for a flight to be led by a squadron leader — a formal rank distinct from a squadron commander — equivalent to an army major or naval lieutenant commander . A flight is usually divided into two Sections , each containing two to three aircraft , which share ground staff with the other section , and are usually commanded by a Flight Lieutenant . The British Army Air Corps and other army air corps , the Royal Canadian Air Force , and the Royal Australian Air Force also have flights . The term is also used in some Navy air squadrons such as the Royal Navy ' s Fleet Air Arm . Ground flights . An air force ground flight is roughly equivalent to an army platoon and may be commanded by a flight commander , flight lieutenant , flying officer , pilot officer , or warrant officer . ( The names of ranks are still used , even though a ground flight contains no aircrewmen . ) A flight is also a basic unit of guided missiles , such as surface - to - air missile s . These ground flights may carry out operational roles ( such as air traffic control , airfield defence or firefighting ) , engineering roles ( such as aircraft or ground systems maintenance ) , medical , dental , and legal units , or purely administrative roles - such as finance , infrastructure or human resource management . American usage . The United States Air Force ( USAF ) has two types of flights . A numbered flight is a unit with a unique base , wing , group , or Numbered Air Force mission , such as training or finance , though not large enough to warrant designation as a squadron . Numbered flights are uncommon , and are usually only found in basic training facilities . An alphabetic flight is an operational component of a flying or ground squadron , not an independent unit ; alphabetic flights within a squadron normally have identical or similar functions and are normally designated A , B , C and so on within the squadron . Flights in the USAF are generally authorized to have between 20 and 100 personnel , and are normally commanded by a company - grade officer ( lieutenant or captain ) and / or a flight chief , usually a senior noncommissioned officer with the rank of master sergeant or senior master sergeant . In Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile units of the U . S . Air Force , a flight is composed of ten unmanned launch facilities remotely controlled by a manned launch control center , containing two personnel . Five of these flights make up one missile squadron . The Air Force has a total of 45 ICBM missile flights . The aviation units of the United States Navy , United States Marine Corps , United States Coast Guard , U . S . Army , and U . S . Army helicopter units also have flights .