Sorry about that, no offense intended. My only experience with in-person contact with career helicopter pilots has been, like you said, in the training environment, and a couple of EMS pilots. Trust me when I say I'm not confusing ego with assertive. I'm sure it's due to my limited exposure, but a little goes a long way when it comes to "helicopter pilots are better than airplane pilots" crap, along with belittling students' flying skills in front of others and even poking fun at their colleagues' skills. Or maybe that it's just that the midwest has more than its fair share of egotists.
The law of large numbers dictates that even here you'll find a handful of people full of themselves. But for the most part I've found the folks here to be incredibly friendly and helpful. If Rotorheads is typical of the professional pilots population in general...it would make my day. And I would owe everyone here an apology. Again, I'm sorry about that.