inspire-indiana Chapter 55 F3 The Rule-Makers
Chapter 55 F3 The Rule-Makers
In late August, the first batch of F3s rolled off the production line.
Su Chen stood on the open ground outside the factory building, holding a brand-new F3 engineering prototype.
It's about 20 percent heavier than the F2. The casing is made of reinforced engineering plastic, magnetic gray, with a rough texture. Rubber shock-absorbing pads are installed on the motor mounts. The control board is fully sealed. The battery compartment has a low-temperature protection layer.
It doesn't look refined at all. Compared to the Mavic Pro's sleek design, the F3 looks like a miniature construction vehicle.
But that's exactly what Su Chen wanted.
He raised his hand and slammed the F3 from a height of 1.5 meters onto the concrete ground.
With a "ma" sound.
F3 bounced once, rolled half a circle, and stopped.
Su Chen picked it up and inspected it. There was a slight scratch on the corner of the casing. No structural damage whatsoever. He turned it on. The firmware self-test passed. It rose. It hovered. It stabilized.
Zhou Ming, who was standing nearby, looked at this scene with a complicated expression.
"Mr. Su, what do you mean by throwing the new product on the ground?"
"This is how we sell the F3," Su Chen said. "We tell the sales team—when demonstrating to customers, the first thing they do is drop the machine from a height of one meter. Customers will remember that image."
Zhou Ming thought for a moment.
"I understand. It's the same logic as throwing phones on the ground when they were selling F2s."
"Yes. But the F3 is more reliable than the F2. It's not just that it's indestructible—it can take off immediately after a crash and fly just as steadily as before."
Su Chen put the F3 back on the ground.
"Starting next week, the F3 will be fully available. The sales team and distributors will stock it simultaneously. The price is 2199. Is Meng Xiaoshuo ready?"
"Everyone has been notified. All fifteen field sales teams and forty-two distributors have received the F3 product information and selling point training manual."
"good."
Su Chen turned and went back to the factory.
The first batch of F3s is already neatly stacked in the workshop. The magnetic gray casing reflects a faint sheen under the light—not a refined sheen, but a solid, tool-like texture.
Just like its name, F3 is not a toy, but a tool.
In early September, the F3 was on the market for two weeks.
The sales figures from the first week told Su Chen that he was on the right track.
More than 800 units were sold in seven days.
The number of units sold exceeded one thousand in the second week.
More than 1,800 units were sold in two weeks.
If this pace continues, the F3's first-month sales will exceed 3,500 units—surpassing the F2's historical peak.
More importantly, it's the feedback from the ground sales team.
One passage in Meng Xiaoyi's weekly report left a deep impression on Su Chen: "They've really gotten going. Before, the morale of several teams dropped a lot because of the impact of the Mavic Pro. Now, as soon as we take out the F3, we toss it around and show it to the customer, and the customer's eyes light up. The team members say that pushing the F3 is easier now than pushing the F2."
Su Chen drew a line under this sentence.
"It came to life."
These two words represent the return of confidence to the entire ground sales system.
Meanwhile, Skyhawk's Falcon Industrial Edition has also been released in the last two weeks.
Su Chen took a look at the discussions in the industry media.
YuChen.com published a comparative review: "1699 vs 2199: A Real-World Comparison of Tianying Falcon Industrial Edition and Hongyuan F3".
The evaluation results are clear: the Tianying's hardware durability has indeed improved, but its flight control quality is significantly inferior to Hongyuan's. In a level 3 wind environment, the F3's hovering accuracy is twice that of the Falcon Industrial Edition. In high-temperature environments, the F3's power response lag is only one-third that of the Falcon.
The review article concludes with: "The Falcon Industrial Edition does indeed demonstrate durability in its hardware. However, the F3's durability isn't just about hardware—it's about system-level durability design, encompassing everything from flight control algorithms to hardware structure. These are two different levels of issues."
After reading the review, Su Chen shut down his computer.
He doesn't need the media to help him fight Skyhawk. The market will make its own judgment.
When small business owners in a county town see two machines at the same time—one selling for 1,700 yuan but with mediocre flight control, and the other selling for 2,200 yuan but with far superior flight control—how would they choose?
Su Chen knew the answer. Because his clients weren't consumers looking for the cheapest option—they were workers who used drones to earn a living. Workers weren't looking at price; they were looking at the return on investment. A machine that flew more stably and worked more reliably, even if it cost 500 yuan more, was still the cheaper choice in the long run.
Because it requires less maintenance, fewer replacement flights, and fewer accidents.
Su Chen stood up and walked to the window.
Outside the window is Shenzhen in early September. Night has just fallen, and the lights in Longhua District are lighting up one by one.
The F3 is already available. The agricultural flight control ecosystem continues to expand. Toyota's exclusive distribution channels are operational. Inquiries from Southeast Asia are increasing. Tianying's new products cannot compete with the F3's flight control advantages at the product level.
The reshuffling period is about to reach its climax.
But Hongyuan was already prepared.
Su Chen quietly took stock in his mind.
Consumer-grade: The F3 is now available, selling over 800 units in its first week. Sales morale is high. The new Tianying product is unmatched in flight control.
Plant protection grade: The SDK has accumulated over fifteen customers. Toyota's exclusive channel has been launched. New agricultural machinery manufacturers are still inquiring every week.
Team: The R&D team consists of twelve people, divided into three independent groups. The stock option plan is in effect. Tianying's attempt to poach talent was unsuccessful.
Funding: The company is still entirely self-sufficient. A Series B funding round is not needed. The system's red lines are in place.
Competition: The wave of bankruptcies in Shenzhen's drone industry is accelerating. New small factories are closing down every week. But Hongyuan is not only not failing—it is getting stronger.
Su Chen slowly leaned forward, placing his hands on the windowsill.
He was not satisfied. Because satisfaction means stopping.
But he knew he was on the right track.
A year and a half ago, he sat down for the first time in front of this same flat window, in front of a dying small factory with only 120 million yuan in cash.
A year and a half later, the scenery outside the window remained the same. But everything inside had changed.
The consumer-grade F3 has redefined the category of "work drones" in the market.
The SDK ecosystem for plant protection flight control is turning agricultural machinery manufacturers across the country into allies of Hongyuan.
The door to Southeast Asia has been opened a crack.
Industrial inspection—the third curve—is still waiting to be launched.
Su Chen turned around and returned to the table.
He opened the draft of the three-year plan and wrote four words next to the "consumer-grade" column:
[F3 - Now in Mass Production]
Then a line was added next to "Plant Protection Grade":
[SDK clients > 15, exclusive channel launched, overseas inquiries ongoing]
Finally, he added a question mark next to "the third curve":
[Industrial Inspection - When Will It Begin?]
He stared at the question mark for a while.
Then I closed the document.
Not urgent.
The road ahead is long. But the direction has never been clearer.
Su Chen turned off the lights.
The second batch of F3 will enter the dealer channel tomorrow. The field sales team has already received the new crossbow spray. New customers for the plant protection SDK are queuing up.
Meanwhile, Tianying's GG is still being distributed to county towns.
But when the customer actually takes the test flight, the flight controller will say everything for them.
Su Chen was well aware of this.
From day one, Hongyuan was not a company that won through marketing.
It's a company that wins by its products.
The core of the product is the flight control system.
Flight control systems cannot be bought with marketing.
It cannot be replicated by imitation.
This isn't something money can solve.
It is the culmination of time, talent, and countless iterations.
And the team behind Su Chen—which grew from two people to twelve—is the embodiment of this achievement.
They are still young. They are still growing.
But they have already done something that has caught the market's attention.
Su Chen felt that was enough.
The rest is up to time.