He was born on the family estate in Niwerka,
Podolia (now Niverka,
Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion,
Khmelnytskyi Oblast,
Ukraine). During World War I he was commissioned in the Russian Army, and fought in an infantry regiment on the German front, becoming an
NCO. In 1918 he joined the newly formed Polish 1st Corps of Gen.
Józef Dowbór-Muśnicki. When the corps was disarmed by the Germans in May 1918 he went to
Ukraine and briefly served in the army of the
Ukrainian People's Republic. He returned to Poland after independence and joined the Polish Army. He served in the cavalry during the
Polish-Soviet war, and then volunteered for the air force. He completed pilot training in
Bydgoszcz and
Grudziądz and in 1923 became an instructor in Grudziądz. From 27 August to 25 September 1926, with mechanic Leon Kubiak, Orliński flew from
Warsaw to
Tokyo () and back in a
Breguet 19 A2. On the way back the plane was damaged by wind in Byrka and its left lower wing was broken and propeller was cracked. The Polish aviators shortened the opposite wing and repaired the propeller with glue and wire, and thus repaired flew the to Warsaw. For the feat, Orliński was awarded the Japanese
Order of the Rising Sun, 6th Class, and the French
Legion of Honor and was promoted to
captain. In 1928 he left the service and became a test pilot with the Polish
PZL aviation works in
Warsaw. He test flew all PZL fighter prototypes, from the
PZL P.1 designed by
Zygmunt Puławski in 1928, through the
PZL P.6,
PZL P.7,
PZL P.8,
PZL P.11,
PZL P.24 to
PZL P.50 Jastrząb in 1939. He also tested the sports planes
PZL.19 and
PZL.26, passenger planes
PZL.4 and
PZL.44 Wicher, and liaison plane
PZL Ł.2. Apart from his test pilot work, he took part in numerous aviation contests and presentations of Polish aircraft abroad. Flying the
PZL.5 he participated in the
Challenge 1930 international touring planes contest, but failed to finish due to engine failure on 26 July. In December 1930 he presented the fighter PZL P.6 at the
Paris Air Show. Flying the P.6, Orliński won the
National Air Races in
Cleveland from 29 August – 7 September 1931. Flying the
PZL.19 he took part in the
Challenge 1932 contest, but had to withdraw due to illness. On 28 June 1934 he set a world speed record for radial engined fighters of , flying the
PZL P.24. During this time, he survived several crashes and emergency parachute jumps. In January 1936 he carried out a promotional tour in the Balkans. After the outbreak of
World War II and the
German invasion on Poland, he volunteered for the Polish Army. On 8 September 1939, he was sent to Romania in preparation to receive British-built fighters. He subsequently reached Great Britain via Yugoslavia, Italy and France, where the remnants of the Polish Air Force were serving. Because of his age he could not be a fighter pilot and became an instructor. In 1943 he joined
No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron, flying the
de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber. From 1 August 1944 to 31 January 1945, Wing Commander Orliński was the commander of No. 305 Squadron. He flew 49 operational sorties, mostly at night. From 1 February 1945 until the end of the war in Europe, he was kept out of combat. After the war, he decided not to return to Poland and settled in
Toronto, Canada. During his career he flew 92 aircraft types and spent some 7,000 hours in the air. He died in
Mississauga at the age of 92 and was buried in Poland. ==Honours and awards==