I am looking to buy a handheld radio for CAP use. Obviously, I want want thats on the approved list, but I would like to find one that could be used as a backup transceiver while I am flying. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations on one that would fit the bill?
CAP operates on HF, and VHF-FM. Airplanes operate on VHF-AM. There are, to the best of my knowledge, no compliant handhelds that operate both on VHF-FM and -AM.
No such animal.
More than just the AM aviation / FM CAP issue is that new CAP radios have to meet compliance standards, which means you're pretty much going to have a CAP-only radio, without bells, whistles and extended-frequency options.
I'm pretty sure that the EFJ will let you program the NOAA WX channels, I know the Astro Saber does, but this is about as much "aviation" functionality as you're going to get in any compliant radio.
Yes, the EFJs will do the WX channels. They'll cover up to 172 or 176, forget which at the moment.
...but if you want it as a backup FM transceiver any of the legal radios will work. I've used my portable in aircraft, I just ran an ear-bud from the speaker mic into my headset.