“Arrive Tokio!” - A Flight Story That Could Be a Ready-Made Film Script

Bolesław Orliński and Leonard Kubiak flew from Warsaw to Tokyo and back a hundred years ago. The Polish Aviation Museum now shows boards on the course of the flight and keepsakes of both airmen, many of them for the first time. The exhibition is on the mezzanine of the Main Hangar, with no separate ticket, until 31 December 2026.

Polish Aviation Museum on the exhibition (the museum’s own English text):

What do you do when the first aircraft crashes before the actual start?… Try again! What do you do when, on the return journey, a tornado damages the aircraft, a wing has to be shortened, and the propeller repaired with wood glue and bound with wire?… Keep flying! The story of Bolesław Orliński and Leonard Kubiak may sound like the script of an adventure film - but it really happened. To mark the 100th anniversary of their extraordinary Warsaw-Tokyo-Warsaw expedition, the Polish Aviation Museum has prepared a special temporary exhibition, “Arrive Tokio! The Extraordinary Flight of Bolesław Orliński and Leonard Kubiak.”

This is a story not only for aviation enthusiasts. It is a story of courage, determination, friendship, technology and people who, in the 1920s, managed to achieve things that only moments earlier had seemed impossible. If they were alive today, their adventures could easily become the basis for a Hollywood blockbuster or a bestselling television series. The title of the exhibition - “Arrive Tokio!” - refers to the famous telegram Orliński sent to Warsaw after landing in Japan, announcing the success of this historic expedition.

What to expect

This is an exhibition of boards and showcases, not of aircraft. At its core are large-format boards on the preparations, the route and the airmen’s reception in Japan, with keepsakes alongside. The museum opened it on 30 August 2026, during Polish Aviation Day, on the mezzanine of the Main Hangar. It does not say how many objects are on show.

Among the objects in the showcases, the museum names:

• Orliński’s travel suitcase, which went with him to Japan.
• Previously unpublished photographs of the stay in Tokyo from Leonard Kubiak’s private album.
• The original diplomas of the Japanese decorations, among them the Order of the Rising Sun and the Gold Medal of the Imperial Aviation Society.
• A pre-war edition of Orliński’s book “Mój lot Warszawa - Tokio - Warszawa” (My Flight Warsaw-Tokyo-Warsaw).
• A commemorative album from the staff of de Havilland Canada, given to the airman on his retirement, with illustrated recollections of his adventures.

There are also badges and parts of his uniform, including his Polish pilot’s badge, the “gapa”, and keepsakes from his later service abroad. The curator is Ewa Cuber-Strutyńska; the graphic design is by Arkadiusz Morawski.

You will not see the Breguet they flew. According to the exhibition page, after the return to Warsaw the aircraft was no longer fit for further service. In its announcement of Polish Aviation Day, however, the museum mentioned a model of the Breguet XIX on the same mezzanine; the exhibition page says nothing about it.

For the opening the museum published Stanisław Błasiak’s book “Bolesław Orliński. Biografia” (Bolesław Orliński: A Biography). It does not present it as a catalogue of the exhibition.

Context

According to the museum, Orliński and Kubiak flew from 27 August to 25 September 1926 and covered 22,600 kilometres there and back. Their aircraft was a standard French Breguet XIX A2 reconnaissance bomber. According to Wikipedia, they flew the last 6,680 kilometres with the lower left wing partly cut down and an engine worn out by the loss of oil.

Bolesław Orliński (1899-1992) was then a lieutenant and an instructor at the Higher Pilots’ School in Grudziądz. A year later he played an airman in the silent feature film “Orlę” (The Eaglet), so the exhibition title’s comparison with a film script is borne out by his own life as well. Later, as a test pilot for the State Aviation Works (PZL), he flew successive PZL fighters, and in 1944-1945 he commanded No. 305 Bomber Squadron, which flew Mosquitoes. He died in Toronto, where he had worked for de Havilland Canada.

Leonard Kubiak flew as a sergeant mechanic, as the museum states. The photographs of Tokyo on show come from his private album.

Tickets and time

• Tickets: included in museum admission, with no extra charge, as the exhibition page states. According to the museum’s price list , a standard ticket costs 35 PLN, a reduced one 21 PLN, and a family ticket (two adults and two children, or one adult and three children) 92 PLN. Children under 7 go in free.
• Tuesdays are free. Admission to the museum is free on Tuesdays, as the museum states in its price list . The show has no separate ticket, so on that day you see it for nothing.
• Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, until 31 October 9:00-17:00 (9 AM-5 PM), from November to the end of the show 9:00-16:00; the museum is closed on Mondays. Ticket sales and last entry close 45 minutes before the museum does (hours on the museum’s website ).
• Closed days: the museum is closed on 1 and 11 November and on 24, 25 and 26 December, according to the list on the same page.
• The last day is Thursday 31 December. It is not on the list of closed days, so the last entry is at 15:15. If you want to go between Christmas and the close, your choice is Sunday 27 December or 29 to 31 December.
• How long: about 30 minutes for the boards and showcases. The display alone does not justify the trip out to Czyżyny; treat it as part of a visit to the whole museum.
• Two hangars, two temporary shows. This one is in the Main Hangar, “Girls from the Clouds” in Hangar 5. Both are covered by the same ticket, so it is worth combining them.
• Best for: lovers of interwar history and long journeys, anyone interested in Japan, and teenagers who like true adventure stories.
• Skip if: you came to look at machines rather than read boards and documents.
• In English: the museum publishes the exhibition text in English on its website; it says nothing about English captions on the boards.

What the press says

PAP (30 Aug 2026, a Polish Press Agency dispatch on dzieje.pl): a report from the opening day. It presents the exhibition as the main item of the celebrations, set up on the mezzanine of the Main Hangar; the dispatch gives the title as “Arrived Tokio!” - link (Polish-language source).

Marek Niechcial (10-14 Sep 2026, amateur recordings on YouTube): a recording of the official opening and separate short films of the boards and showcases. They are useful for checking before a visit how much text the exhibition holds - opening , showcases (in Polish).

Two pieces, both informational. No critical review had been found by 24 October 2026.

Tomasz Kosecki, the museum’s director, as reported by PAP: “This will be the first chance to see the exhibition prepared especially for the anniversary, devoted to one of the greatest achievements of Polish aviation.” (our translation)

See also

• Polish Aviation Museum - our profile of the whole museum on the former Rakowice-Czyżyny airfield: eleven permanent exhibitions and a suggestion for fitting the visit into three hours.
• Girls from the Clouds - 95th Anniversary of the 1st Women Aviators’ Rally around Poland - the museum’s other temporary show, until 30 November 2026. Another interwar rally, this time by women and along Poland’s borders.
• Akitsushima. The Island of Dragonflies - at the Manggha Museum until 11 November 2026: Japanese armour and the dragonfly motif in the culture of the country Orliński and Kubiak flew to.

Opening hours and current details are on the Polish Aviation Museum website .

Museum profile: Polish Aviation Museum .