The cockpit of a Spanish Army EC-135 helicopter explained in detail

The Airbus Helicopters EC-135 (now called H135) is a light helicopter that has Spain as its largest military customer.

ACAVIET, the past and present of the center where the Spanish Army's aviators are trained
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Spain has already acquired three batches of EC-135/H135 helicopters, totaling 47, for its Armed Forces. The first batch consisted of 16 EC-135s for the Army, the second of 18 H135 P3Hs for the Navy and Air Force, and a third batch of 13 units announced this week (12 for the Air Force and 1 for the Navy). In addition, the Ministry of the Interior has acquired 51 units, the second batch of which is currently being delivered (25 for the National Police, 22 for the Civil Guard, and 2 for the Directorate General of Traffic).

Yesterday, the YouTube channel Fly By Wire Aviation (which I recommend you subscribe to if you're interested in aeronautical topics) published an excellent video in which an instructor from the Spanish Army Aviation Academy (ACAVIET) shows the cockpit of one of its EC-135s (this training center has 2 EC-135 T2s and 10 EC-135 T2+s), explaining in detail its instruments and their handling (the video is in Spanish; you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

The EC-135/H135 is a helicopter equipped with what is called a "glass cockpit," meaning it has digital displays to show flight and navigation data, in addition to analog instruments as a backup in case of failure. This configuration allows ACAVIET students to become familiar with their future aircraft, as the Army's CH-47F Chinook heavy helicopters, NH90 tactical transport helicopters, and EC-665 Tiger attack helicopters also have digital cockpits.

Before the actual flight in a helicopter, each student's training takes place in a flight simulator, which reproduces with considerable accuracy and realism the flight conditions and potential problems a pilot might encounter while flying an EC-135. ACAVIET has flight simulators for different types of helicopters: the EC-135, the EC-665 Tiger, the CH-47F Chinook, and the NH90.

The video published by Fly By Wire Aviation allows us to appreciate the complexity of flying a helicopter, as the pilot has three different instruments to control the aircraft's movement: the collective stick (operated with the left hand) controls the pitch angle of all the main rotor blades, causing the aircraft to ascend or descend; the cyclic stick (operated with the right hand) resembles the control stick of fixed-wing aircraft and controls the direction of movement of the helicopter by tilting the main rotor; finally, the anti-torque pedals (operated with both feet) control the tail rotor, allowing the helicopter to rotate about its vertical axis.

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Main photo: Ejército de Tierra. One of the ACAVIET's EC-135T2+ helicopters, the HE.26-21 (ET-188, cn 0990).