RE: Should Pilot # 2 replace Pilot # 1's Airplane?
I don't recall how many motorcycle riders have been rear ended by cars whose drivers "Didn't see the motorcycle in front of me". When operating a motor vehicle, you are required to be alert to the environment around you. In flying, whether full size or model, the same need exists. If #2 came up from behind and pulled up into #1, that may not have been malicious, just careless. I've noticed that the more *hit seems to happen to or around the people with the attitude that *hit happens than to anybody else. #2's joking about it makes me think he is probably also the type that laughs off low level passes over the pits or people who have to go out onto the runway to retrieve a plane with a dead engine. I vote he owes #1 at least a major part of the replacement cost.