It is easy to take two-way VHF communication for granted until you don’t have it. Lucky for us, there are many handheld radios available for use as a backup way to stay in touch with ATC after a com failure, or to get in touch with help when you find yourself on the ground.
We used to call handhelds “bricks that talk” when I was in the airline world. If you were on the ramp and needed to summon maintenance people, the fastest way was to find a ground worker with a brick that talked.
I recently acquired an Icom A25N as my personal “brick,” and I love it. The unit has an easy-to-use keyboard and a huge screen that makes my aged eyes work a little less hard when I am trying to program and view the radio in the very common turbulence we General Aviation airplane drivers encounter on almost every flight.
