What action must be taken to correct a heavy bow condition in an airship prior to landing?

To correct a heavy bow condition in an airship prior to landing, ballasting air aft is the appropriate action. A heavy bow condition occurs when the front part of the airship is heavier than the rear, causing the nose to point downward. This situation can lead to difficulty in controlling the descent and can affect landing stability.

By ballasting air aft, the airship’s center of gravity is shifted toward the rear, which helps to lift the nose and bring the airship back into a level attitude. This adjustment assists the pilot in achieving a more stable landing approach, ensuring that the airship maintains controlled descent and proper positioning during landing.

Other options may address different flight characteristics or conditions but do not target the specific imbalance caused by a heavy bow. Increasing airspeed, for instance, can produce a different set of aerodynamic forces but will not effectively adjust the center of gravity. Similarly, reducing weight in the front could be a remedial action depending on circumstances, but it is less precise than directly adjusting the air ballast, which is designed for this specific condition.