Tampa company develops world-renowned flight simulator

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Pilots from all over the world come to Tampa to train in a new generation of flight simulator.

The Tampa-based company is called CAE USA and is one of the largest military flight training companies in the world.

Its C-130 flight simulator is becoming known the world over. 

Flight instructor Andy Delgado takes his students through the very realistic training. 

The company recently signed a $40 million contract with the U.S. Air Force.

CAE USA already employees 500 people and hopes to hire additional engineers. The company designs and builds multi-million dollar simulators and ships them all over the world.

It also hosts foreign military pilots during training.

"Typically we have 20 to 24 countries come to Tampa on an annual basis," says Ray  Duquete, CAE USA's general manager and president. 

He says learning to deal with emergencies in the simulator is far safer and cheaper than in the real world.

"We can do multiple scenarios in an hour of training that would take days in training and we can do it anywhere in the world," says Duquete.

The simulator quickly changes from a view of the Tampa skyline to a view of Alaska.