AN INSTRUCTOR PLT WITH STUDENTS ON BOARD HAD A PWR LOSS AFTER TKOF AND SUCCESSFULLY TURNED BACK TO THE ARPT AND LANDED WITH THE ENG RUNNING ROUGHLY. THE INSTRUCTOR QUESTIONS SOME OF THE DECISIONS MADE DURING THE TURN BACK.

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PARTIAL; THEN ALMOST COMPLETE LOSS OF PWR ON CLBOUT THROUGH 1200 FT. I IMMEDIATELY MADE A 180 DEG TURN BACK TO RWY AND DECLARED AN EMER. ENG RESTORED PWR ON ITS OWN; THOUGH RUNNING ROUGH. I WENT THROUGH QUICK CHKLIST: CARB HEAT ON; FUEL PUMP VERIFY WAS ON; MIXTURE RICH. I LANDED WITH PWR AND TAXIED -- ENG RUNNING A LITTLE ROUGH. THE TANKS WERE FULL; AND I SAMPLED ALL 3 POINTS FOR WATER AND SEDIMENT DURING THE PREFLT. I ALSO SWITCHED FUEL TANKS ON THE GND RUN-UP TO VERIFY FLOW. THE RUN-UP WAS SMOOTH; MAGNETOS AND CARB HEAT OK. ENG INSTS WERE IN GREEN DURING TKOF ROLL. LOOKING BACK I AM AWARE HOW EMER TRAINING DURING MY PVT REALLY TOOK OVER; BUT AM CONCERNED ABOUT MY ALT MAKING THE TURN BACK TO THE RWY. I HAVE READ MANY RPTS ON HOW STRONGLY THE DESIRE TO TURN BACK CAN BE. AS A CFI; I WILL GO UP TO ALT AND MAKE EACH OF MY STUDENTS PRACTICE HOW MUCH ALT IT TAKES TO DO A 180 DEG GLIDING TURN. ALSO; ON EVERY CLBOUT I WILL ORALLY SAY TO MYSELF THE DESIGNATED 'TURN BACK' ALT SO THERE WILL NOT BE THE QUESTION TO DEAL WITH WHEN THE SIT ARISES. THE ATC FACILITY WAS PROFESSIONAL; HELPFUL AND OFFERED/COMPLIED WITH EVERYTHING I ASKED FOR. THEIR ASSISTANCE (AND VOICE TONE) CALMED THE PAX AND MYSELF; AND MADE DEALING WITH THE SIT MUCH EASIER. INACTIONS -- I DID NOT SWITCH THE FUEL TANKS; THOUGH I VERIFIED THE FUEL PUMP WAS ON. I DO NOT REMEMBER CHKING THE ENG INSTS. THIS ACFT HAS A HISTORY AMONG THE FLT INSTRUCTORS FOR HAVING A 'BUG' -- THOUGH MAINT CANNOT FIND ANYTHING SUBSTANTIAL IN MOST CASES. WE STILL HAVE NOT FOUND THE CAUSE AS OF YET.