Exercises proved the Blackburn's warning value

The aircraft served first from HMS Eagle in the Mediterranean and became valuable in exercises from the mid-1920s onward. Its spotting, reconnaissance, and warning duties were repeatedly relevant to fleet problems rather than merely theoretical specification requirements. In one air-defense exercise, a Blackburn detected low-flying torpedo bombers early enough for Eagle's fighters to intercept. The recollection is explicit about its limits: the exercise may have occurred in 1927, and HMS Nelson may have been the target ship.