For a handheld, try Watson WSMA 901 specifically tuned to Air Band and I think it comes with BNC connector, I also have good results with Diamond SRH 77CA and Nagoya MA-771 both nearly twice longer than Watson. ps There was similar thread not that long ago, you may have check other forums.
Most 2-meter amateur antennas will do the job, although they are about 4 inches too short on vhf airband for your typical quarter wave.
A fantastic airband antenna quarter-wave can be made from a Hustler MO-4 mobile mast (22 inches tall), and 23 inch quarter wave radials, or just a ground plane. It is certainly beefy, so it will withstand being on a mountaintop.
Dividing the centre and outer elements of the cable can improve performance further (coaxial dipole) although adding an air choke might also be advantageous...
Currently I'm using a homebrew 27Mhz quarterwave mobile antenna which makes a good attempt on the VHF Aviation Band however a dedicated 5/8w omni works even better, from what I've seen 1/4 VHF ground plane antennas work extremely well also (especially if cut/tuned for the band)
I use a 2 meter jpole 15ft of the ground hooked to a 20db amplifier in a fairly wooded area. Without the amp the farthest I can pickup is Montreal. With amp the farthest is South Dakota. I'm in Southern Maryland by the way. Works great on everything in the 100-200ish megahertz range- I've even (for about 5 seconds) gotten New Brunswick Canada.
I once used a dipole cut half wave for CB. That thing blew away other people in the direction I was transmitting. I also used a Jpole for VHF on a business radio my friend and I used. I think the frequency was green dot. 154.600 if I remember. The best part was Mcdonalds was using that channel and I would piss off a lot of people at the drive thru. :lol: :lol: :lol: I was in high school at the time. Young and dumb.