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No long thread...okay! But...here goes!: I felt from the off that "piloti" was more of a red herring than anything and it is an obscure or unusual word (What crossword is this clue from?) and your further comments don't convince me. .
There is no "+ one" in the clue. "Conductor" followed by a dash before the word "one" means that the "one" refers back to conductor. "Mass" and "church" are of the essence and key to the clue and the "perhaps" is within the convention of crosswords indicating a maybe unusual or unexpected context for the use of the word "pilot".

It's amusing though, to find two of us coming with with very different explanations of one clue. I did ponder your piloti quite a lot but still feels wrong in this clue. As you said, the one thing we do agree on is the Pilot answer.

Thanks, Sammy. The joy of crosswords....

I don't know, Jolan. I find it interesting how when you think of something, it blots out other possibilities so that you don't see them, even if they are seemingly obvious. It's funny that there are two different explanations for one little clue.

Anyway, AB and I may in the end decide that we agree to disagree. By the way, what crossword was that from? What style of clues and vocabulary do they normally use?

It was from SAGA (May) compiled by Cullens Crosswords. The clues can be quite difficult at times. I did not include the SAGA as a title as the closing date has not come yet and I didn't wish to spoil it for others. I had already sent in the answers.

I was inclined to go along with Sammy's explanation because PILOTI is not in (MY) Chambers. It gives

pilotis or ()
n (pl) a series of slender columns or stilts used on the ground floor of a building to raise the main floor to first-floor level, and leaving open space below (eg for car parking).
[Fr pillars stilts]

I suppose piloti is singular but is not listed. It is a good explanation, though.

This thread is becoming a bit of a Saga (pardon me!).

I suppose anything that brings the three of us into friendly discussion can't be all bad. As I said , the joy of crosswords...

Jolan and AB, thanks. It is a friendly discussion - and intriguing too.
I see now why you didn't want to disclose the origin of the clue. Good thinking.

But...to add to the *Saga*, the p(i)lot thickens! I looked it up and it's a French word, pilotis, meaning a set of piles, stilts or posts (Fr. pilots) supporting a building above the water or ground.

Pilotis is a singular word but it is also the plural form of the word.
In French:
pilotis
nom masculin invariant en nombre
(masculine noun invariable by number)
ensemble de pilots, de gros pieux supportant une construction
(an ensemble of stilts or posts, large stakes - pieux:originally wooden stakes - or posts supporting a building)

I'm guessing English speakers may have taken PILOTIS as if it were (solely) plural and made up a word PILOTI, which as they thought, would denote the singular! Maybe...I don't know.