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Langley pilot makes Cosmo hot bachelors list

As an F-15 pilot, Capt. Dustin Ripley is a powerful and intimidating foe in the skies. But if you play with his hair, he’ll “turn into a puddle.”

Watch his video

That admission was part of his bio as Virginia’s hottest bachelor, one of 50 contestants for the nation’s most eligible man in the November issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. Other tidbits: “When I’m not flying, I ride my motorcycle. It makes me feel so free.” Also, Ripley’s got a thing for girls in “tight white pants.”

The nomination caught Ripley by surprise — a female friend filled out his application package, and he only learned about the contest when Cosmo editors invited him up to the Hamptons for a photo shoot.

The 10 or so bachelors he met at that shoot were “absolutely the most normal, blonde college kids — just normal guys,” Ripley said.

With only a short window for Internet voting to determine the winner, Ripley said word got around fast. It started with his squadron, the 71st Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Va., but “I think I’ve made pretty good tracks around the Air Force about this one,” he said.

Fortunately, appearing in a salacious women’s mag didn’t cost this guy’s guy too much in the way of reputation.

“All your buddies are gonna rip you a little bit,” Ripley said. “It’s all in good fun, and there were some pretty funny comments that got thrown around the ol’ e-mail chain from different buddies.”

(One such e-mail forwarded to Air Force Times cited Ripley’s participation as a definite “Manfraction,” but Ripley was in the dark as to what that might mean.)

Overall, Ripley called the contest “a fantastic experience from top to bottom.” He didn’t win — that honor went to Ohio’s Brian Watkins.

But he is getting some fan mail, much of it patriotic, said Ripley.

Believe it or not.

DISCUSS: Cosmo’s 2007 bachelor’s list