Is a resistive coil the most effective heating method for a cylinder in terms of power consumption?
Heating the cylinder is an inefficient way to heat the air inside.  This is because the cylinder loses heat to the outside, as well as to the air inside.
A better scheme would be a heater that warms the center of the (presumably streamline) airflow, and perhaps a porous plug or baffle at the outflow end of the air stream that conducts heat so that the air becomes more uniform in temperature.
As for 'maximizing airflow', that would result in lower temperature for
any given heating power.  Is that the real goal?