Chinook Crew 'Chick': Highs and Lows of Forces Life from the Longest Serving Female RAF Chinook Force Crewmember

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McConaghy was the longest-serving female crewman on the RAF Chinook Fleet, spanning a 17-year career on the aircraft. Help for Heroes changed my life. They helped me find me again. They made me feel seen once again. And I’m really moving forward into a positive space in life.” Life changing Starting from such a young age, Liz reflected on where it all started, going with her brother to his BARB test. BARB stands for British Army Recruit Battery and is a computer-based psychometric test someone must take before they can serve in the Army, to decide if they are suitable. Originally from a small town in Co. Down, Northern Ireland, she attended RAF Cranwell on her 19th birthday to begin her exciting career. Please note, some parts of this episode include discussion about mental health and wellbeing issues. If you feel you may need to reach out for support in the UK :

Waking in intensive care two days later, McConaghy's feelings had completely shifted; she realised she didn't want to die. With the support of the veterans' system, McConaghy began her recovery journey, recognising how crucial that support network was to her survival. Liz turned to writing both poetry and her autobiography following a tough battle with PTSD years after leaving the service, in the hope it may help others with their mental health. She then went on to fulfil a career with a disabled flying charity to help support wounded soldiers into flying scholarships and also turned her efforts to writing poetry. In 2020, Liz suffered extensively with her mental health due to the onset of PTSD following almost two decades at war. The book is an honest and humorous account of Liz’s ‘ best of times and worst of times’ and how her experiences flying on the Chinook have changed and moulded her into the woman she has become.AeroTime sat down with McConaghy to talk about the Chinook, women in the military and the importance of talking about our mental health. Hopefully, Liz McConaghy’s exposure of her own experiences will serve to help others. She tells her story well and it will be an ‘eye opener’ for those who have had little or no exposure to the harsher consequences inherent in service life. RAF Historical Society Journal

McConaghy said that the most frequently asked, and least favorite, question over the years has been the challenges she has faced as a female crewman. You do a six-month school called the UCF, which is where you work up to learn how to operate and then you get sent to your first squad, which for me was 27 and then you have to do what’s called a combat ready work up. So that is essentially learning how to operate the Chinook when you’re getting combat ready. You learn what rules you can bend when you’re at war; if you’re getting shot at, what you can and can’t get away with.

Liz McConaghy

Article: Local woman's book looks at life in a Chinook during wartime: 'Each of the stretchers came over the ramp and each had a flag over the body' County Down Spectator Books like this are so important because you simply never know how much good they will do once they have been set free into the world. You just have to trust that those who need it, will find it and that it will make a positive difference. Find the thing that makes your skin tingle,” she said. “If it’s anything less than something that really lights your fire, you’re never going to get up and give it 100%, commit everything and throw yourself in headfirst. If you’re settling for what you’re doing, it’s not the right thing. Aim high and go for it! You’ll never know if you don’t try so just go for it. I think if you want that extra ‘ohh, isn’t she amazing? Look, she’s the girl doing this job,’ you’re almost saying that they’re not capable of it in the first place.’ Liz McConaghy, originally from Newtownards, holds the accolade of longest-serving female on the Chinook wing and also the youngest aircrew member ever deployed to Iraq.