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"In science fiction one can say a great many things that are unpalatable, … because it's expressed as science fiction you can slip it past their defenses."
- Frederik Pohl

Trans-Oceanic Rocket  
  Also, a rocket-plane.  

According to the story, it takes a mere 5 hours to cross the Atlantic. Ironically, the supersonic (and now defunct) Concorde made the trip in just 3 and 1/2 hours.

I was rushing over the ground toward the glittering, silver-winged projectile that was the Baikal. A glowering officer waved me on, and I dashed up the slant of the gangplank and into the ship; the port dropped and I heard a long "Whew!" of relief...

There's a friendly atmosphere aboard a trans-oceanic rocket. The passengers are forced into a crowded infirmary for anywhere from seven to twelve hours, and there isn't much room for moving about. Generally, one strikes up an acquaintance with his neighbors; introductions aren't at all necessary, and the custom is simply to speak to anybody you choose— something like an all-day trip on the railroad trains of the last century, I suppose...

Afterwards we walked along the narrow aisle to the glassed-in observation room up forward.

Technovelgy from The Worlds of If, by Stanley G. Weinbaum.
Published by Wonder Stories in 1935
Additional resources -

It is also called a "rocket-plane".


(The Trans-Oceanic Rocket Plane)

Five hundred people were picking themselves up from the floor, were trampling each other, milling around, being cast helplessly down as the great rocket-plane, its left wing but a broken stub, circled downward toward the Atlantic.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Worlds of If
  More Ideas and Technology by Stanley G. Weinbaum
  Tech news articles related to The Worlds of If
  Tech news articles related to works by Stanley G. Weinbaum

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