The rocket is now unstable and tumbles end over end. The tumbling motion of the rocket produces extremely high drag on the rocket so it falls slowly. A streamer is usually attached to the nose of the rocket and ejected by the engine's ejection charge to whip around in the air, creating substantial drag with which to slow the rocket's descent. The effectiveness of the streamer in slowing the descent of the model rocket is chiefly determined by the streamer's surface area and its roughness. The larger the streamer, the slower is the descent of the rocket.
Streamers are useful for returning rockets with a minimum of drift.
Parachutes or streamers can be easily interchanged, depending on needs and wind conditions. However, streamers do not produce enough drag for heavier rockets. The parachute is usually attached to the nose of the rocket and is ejected from the rocket body by the engine's ejection charge, like the streamer. It fills with air and creates tremendous drag to slow the rocket's descent and allow it to float gently back to earth. Between the parachute packed in the body tube and the engine is a layer of flameproof recovery wadding.