  We report the results of an experimental investigation into the decay of
turbulence in plane Couette-Poiseuille flow using 'quench' experiments where
the flow laminarises after a sudden reduction in Reynolds number $Re$.
Specifically, we study the velocity field in the streamwise-spanwise plane. We
show that the spanwise velocity containing rolls, decays faster than the
streamwise velocity, which displays elongated regions of higher or lower
velocity called streaks. At final Reynolds numbers above 425, the decay of
streaks displays two stages: first a slow decay when rolls are present and
secondly a more rapid decay of streaks alone. The difference in behaviour
results from the regeneration of streaks by rolls, called the lift-up effect.
We define the turbulent fraction as the portion of the flow containing
turbulence and this is estimated by thresholding the spanwise velocity
component. It decreases linearly with time in the whole range of final $Re$.
The corresponding decay slope increases linearly with final $Re$. The
extrapolated value at which this decay slope vanishes is $Re_{a_z}\approx
656\pm10$, close to $Re_g\approx 670$ at which turbulence is self-sustained.
The decay of the energy computed from the spanwise velocity component is found
to be exponential. The corresponding decay rate increases linearly with $Re$,
with an extrapolated vanishing value at $Re_{A_z}\approx 688\pm10$. This value
is also close to the value at which the turbulence is self-sustained, showing
that valuable information on the transition can be obtained over a wide range
of $Re$.
