Fish, I felt your pain on P2K #1. Glad it's goin good on #2. I'm waitin to pull the trigger on this one till I've got some things sorted out on her. Don't know which version you have: the RTF or ARF version? RTF versions are famous for havin junk transmitters & rec'vs. and either version comes w/ the same esc & servos which can also be junk and cause headaches. Take it (my look on this plane) for what it's worth Fish - I would seriously not discount a bum esc OR rec'vr. OR a servo(s) OR transmitter OR all 3!
"she began to turn right and fly in circles with no response to left." (Possibly a sticking servo -maybe, maybe not). "I tried to give it some rudder but no response." (Could be due to a rec'vr blackout or a bad esc). Yeah, these crashes could be due to stalls but when you say "I tried to give it some rudder but no response" could be due to a bad esc, rec'vr, servo or transmitter.
Also, you don't mention any probs w/ engine mount melting??? This has been a major prob/issue & posted all throughout rcgroups thread:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1338888&pp=100. Folks have gone to great lengths to perform mods to the motor mount to get away from the stock plastic motor mount.
Ck out my posts
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1338888&pp=100&page=23 #2284 & 2285 regarding PK2 motor mount updates. Could you ck 1 thing for me please? Let me know if your motor set up has a metal washer in front of a wood washer just behind the prop spinner? It's very easy to see. If so then it's my guess this is why you've not experienced a melted motor mount. From what I've been able to piece together is Lanyu (the co. that distributes the PK2 & Phoenix Evolution 2.6m) has made an ongoing manufacturing change to the motor mount set up as noted in the vid in post #2284 and has corrected the melting motor mounts.
Just my 2 cents. I just feel your pain bro and want you to avoid havin to get discouraged and throw the towel in for good on this plane which I think is excellent for slope soarin once you get a few things sorted out. Hey, some folks have gone by the old sayin "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" and some have listened to problems other folks have had & changed out a couple of components before hittin the flight line.
Best of flyin Fish.