The intended use is important to this discussion. I assume that this
is for air-to-air and air-to-ground use, not simply for ground-to-air.

We exclusively use ICOMs in our club and I am sold on them. We
standardized on the late/great IC-A4 (ni-cd) which, short of being
left out in the rain, is a great simple bulletproof radio. A bit
underpowered so was best used for local flights. One disadvantage was
the lack of a keypad, which makes freq changes harder. Again, club
use so was locked to 123.3.

So how about non-club and cross country use? My non-portable radio in
my glider was on the fritz back in 2009 so I began using a handheld
(ICOM IC-A5) in the air. The problem was the range and being heard by
other pilots, even through the A5 is more powerful than the A4, and
the same as the non-portable. The difference? I was using the
"rubber duckie" antenna. So I hooked the radio's BNC connector to my
tail fin antenna. The same BNC connector is on nearly every non-
handheld and handheld radio so it was a simple set up (on the ground
that is). And it worked MUCH better!

But as a pure *BACKUP* air-to-air and air-to-ground use, portable ICOM
with a full keypad (for quick freq changes) with a rubber antenna is
the way to go.

Good luck.

-John DeRosa