This is a copy of Biiy Hell post about how it was started.
How the Profile Brotherhood was started....
The Profile Brotherhood
Two years ago at a swap meet I went home with a $40 profile plane. It was my first. This $40 investment has led me down a road of hard core addiction. The plane could be as gentle as a trainer or as wild as a very expensive 3D plane. It didn't take long for the addiction to set in. About this time I was also discovering the wealth of information the internet had for me. I became a regular on RCUnivserse.com asking questions about everything from engines to programming my computer radio. My nick name was Billy Hell. They guys were always ready to answer any question. One day I posted a picture of me with my profile.
I had what could only be described as a "thousand mile stare" on my face. Evidently this struck some of the members as funny. One of the RCUniverse users went to the field and had someone take a picture of him in the exact pose and started a thread called "Ode to Billy Hell". Then others started sending in their "thousand mile stare" photos. To show I had a sense of humor I took all the photos into Photoshop and made it look as though we were all in the field together. Over our head it read
"THE PROFILE BROTHERHOOD". More and more people wanted to be in the picture. The thread became a place to talk about the profiles and what we were building and doing with our planes. That thread has been viewed by 24,000 people and had over 900 responses. Then a month later I received an email from Morris Hobbies. They make the planes that most of us fly. They said they thought this "Profile Brotherhood" was a great thing and they wanted to be a part of it. That is when I decided the Profile Brotherhood needed to become a real club. A web site was
created, a Yahoo Group was created for us to sign up officially and chat to one another via email. That was a little more than a year ago and the Profile Brotherhood is 200 plus members strong. We have brothers in Switzerland, Australia and Slovenia and have 3 to 4 people join everyday. To date we have had Profile Brother sponsored Fun Flies in Houston, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee, Raleigh, North Carolina and have scheduled events for New York City as well as Nashville.
Why did a bunch of guys in pictures holding their profiles turn into a tight nit club? I think it is because we are a rare breed. Most people find our profile planes unappealing. In fact we all have shared experiences of bringing a newly finished plane to the field only to have fellow club members talk about how ugly it is. These are function before form type of guys. They aren't happy with flying the pattern, they need more!
The Brothers typically fly a .40 size plane with 48 inch wing span. If built from a kit the weight on the plane is usually around 4.4 .lbs loaded. We use anything from an OS 46 FX to Irvine .53s. Saito .72 four strokes are also very popular. Maybe some of you have seen a profile plane at the field but have you ever seen one really wrung out? Let's go over a list of things that one of the $80 kits can accomplish:
hovering, torque rolling, inverted spins, upright spins, climbing
inverted spins, knife edge spins, harriers, upside down harriers,
harrier landings, waterfalls, falling leaf, tornados, elevators,
parachute and the list continues. If you can think of a maneuver these planes can usually do it. Born out of profile control line planes they have evolved into 3D wonder machines that let the pilot feel free to try things they wouldn't normally try with a $3,000 3D plane.
With over 200 Brothers I have found them all to be helpful and good natured. I have been around enough clubs (RC and other wise) to know that when the numbers get that high things can get ugly but it has been my pleasant surprise to be proved wrong with the Pro Bros. We all post on an internet email chat. One person will post a question and usually within minutes several Brothers will post answers. If I start to build a kit I will send out an email (called a thread because every response to that email carries the original title). As the building progresses and my questions pile up they are in that thread and saved for future
builders of that plane. Pictures are posted of the process and
ultimately the maiden flight. The time it takes to learn about our
hobby has been really accelerated because of the internet and the ability to talk to like builders all over the world in real time. I have learned more in 2 years from the Profile Brothers than I could have learned on my own in 10. Throw into the mix all the kidding and jokes and we all have something that we look forward to every day. I consider many of these people good friends even though I have never met them face to face. For example; I had a new plane that needed a motor. A Brother
sent me a $150 engine to use until I purchased the one I needed. I have seen acts of kindness like this numerous times and have never ever heard of anyone being taken advantage of. Why? I just think it is the mentality of the RC hobbyist. We all know the work involved. The thinking one must do to get it all working and the dedication in time and money to get
that bird to the field.
Really it's about the excitement of building and flying but most of all it is about the people you share this hobby with. Now I not only have the guys at the field to share my great times with but I also have over 200 brothers all over the world as well! What could be better?
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