cecil grace in wright aeroplane startles naval officers at sheerness the following article appeared in the new york times on may the new york times may flies over british fleet cecil grace in wright aeroplane startles naval officers at sheerness london april the fleet of british warships anchored off sheerness had a novel experience to day when an aeroplane from the aero club aviation grounds as east church eastchurch suddenly appeared out of the haze and manoeuvred over the vessels at varying heights after making a deliberate reconnaisance the aerial craft disappeared from view the aeroplane which startled the navy officers is a wright model and was piloted by cecil grace after leaving the harbor it flew nearly fifty miles in fifty one minutes rising at one time to a height of feet east church containing the royal aero club's aviation grounds is on the isle of sheppey mr grace has been flying for some time and his operations have attracted considerable attention he uses a short wright biplane last month while manoeuvring he fell from a considerable height but received only a few scratches his machine was damaged but not beyond easy repair