Less than two hours ago, I couldn't hold myself back from scarfing down that mega deluxe carne asada burrito for a super deal of $2.99. If there was a time to regret indulging in such a large lunch, now was the time. The constant vurp's (vomit burps) and cold sweat running down my forehead was a good indication that I was ready to pray to the porcelain god. I quickly look to the left, then to the right, for salvation; only to remember I was more than 13,000 feet in the air traveling at a steady 107 knots in a Cessna 152 airplane. "Stupid ass Scott," I scoffed at myself as I turned to the pilot and said "Dammit Alan... where's the barf bag?"
Alan Viado, of Westminster, Calif., and one-time resident of Oahu, Hi. is a veteran pilot who plans to someday obtain a career in the commercial industry. He slowly panned his head towards my direction with the look of content that one would have only after receiving gratuitous sex. "Wasssap Buddy? You okay there?" he says, in a sheepish tone of voice, as the plane shakes and rattles with every movement of the controls. "Hold on, let me show you how to drift in a Cessna. I know this 110 hp beast got an E-brake somewhere." Without warning, the plane falls into a barrel roll plunging towards Earth as I hold on for dear life, nearly soiling my underwear. "If only this plane was more similar to my drift car, I'd be able to demonstrate some clutch kicking," says Viado, in a joking fashion. "Enough!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Get me out of this shitbox and back on the ground." Disappointed, yet satisfied of scaring me to death, Viado coasted onto the taxiway and parked the plane. To think I was finally safe on the ground, away from unwanted aerial stunts was short lived. Viado was to drive me home in his 300 hp Nissan 240SX.
Building close relations with numerous automotive shops around the world, Viado can be found on the weekdays grinding away as a sales marketer for world reknown Sparco Motor Sports USA of Irvine, Calif. It was those very ties that enabled Viado to experience the world of drifting first hand in a rear-wheel-drive converted WRX. Well before the Kumakubo's and Tanaka's of Japan began the Impreza fad within the D1 ranks of drifting, Viado enlisted the help of his good friend Gary Castillo of Design Craft Fabrication in Lake Forest, Calif. to fabricate and install a center differential to deliver rear tire drift-ability. The car ran flawlessly, as numerous drift day events were attended, but along with the new tire smoking abilities came transmission and various drivetrain problems. After three snapped output shafts, two broken axles, and routine tranny swaps, it became apparent that Viado was up to his nose having to tow his Subie home on a constant basis. Disheartened, Viado conjured up the courage and sold his Subaru to make room for a more drift-friendly vehicle, an S14. "I basically wanted something I could just beat on and still drive it home at the end of the day," stated Viado.