Linen or cotton

[Maxrobot1]

Linen is a labor intensive fabric derived from the flax plant. I see it called out for aircraft use but during the two World Wars, there was a huge demand for it. Was cotton used as a substitute? Doped linen was the ideal fabric, but I can see that shortages would occur and I wonder how some countries managed.
Just think of the yardage used by tens of thousands of aircraft produced in 1914-1918 alone! How much was used by the Vickers company on their Wellesleys and Wellingtons!
Did the U.S. use real linen for control surfaces and such?
I can see suppliers scrambling when huge orders were placed.

 

[Antarctica]

Yes, linen was the preferred covering due to lighter weight but cotton was used due to shortages. In Germany in WW1 it was often dyed (ie Lozenge) as paint also was much heavier.