A handheld com radio is one of those tools every pilot should have in their flight kit. If you are a CFI, it’s a must for monitoring first solos from the ramp. For everyone else, it is a backup for communications should the radio stack in the airplane go Tango Uniform during the flight. And in some cases, when you are flying an aircraft that lacks an engine-powered electrical system, the battery-powered radio is all you have—and you had better have a specialized jack to plug your headset into, or else you’re going to be doing the awkward “push-the-boom-mic-out-of-the-way-to-talk” routine.
Recently, FLYING had the opportunity to test the PJ2+ com radio from Sporty’s Pilot Shop. It’s the follow-on to the original PJ2 that won FLYING’s Editors’ Choice Award in 2020. The PJ2+ made points with me right off the bat because it has a direct plug-in for the headset. You don’t need a specialized adapter, which very often has gone missing. The direct plug-in allows you to communicate effectively through the boom mic.
