Not able to retrieve position report using SearchBirdseyeInFlight with ident tail number

FlightAware AeroAPI
1

I am using SearchBirdseyeInFlight with tail number as the ident parameter and not having any luck retrieving any position report. If I use a flight id instead, I get data back. Here is my query:

tail number, no dash:
http://flightxml.flightaware.com/json/FlightXML2/SearchBirdseyeInFlight?query={ident+{VTJPR}}+{%3D+inAir+1}&howMany=15&offset=0
returns no data

tail number, with dash:
http://flightxml.flightaware.com/json/FlightXML2/SearchBirdseyeInFlight?query={ident+{VT-JPR}}+{%3D+inAir+1}&howMany=15&offset=0
returns no data

with flight id in ident field for same tail number VT-JPR
http://flightxml.flightaware.com/json/FlightXML2/SearchBirdseyeInFlight?query={ident+{IAD735}}+{%3D+inAir+1}&howMany=15&offset=0
returns
{“SearchBirdseyeInFlightResult”:{“next_offset”:-1,“aircraft”:[{“faFlightID”:“IAD735-1549866388-airline-0339”,“ident”:“IAD735”,“prefix”:“”,“type”:“A320”,“suffix”:“”,“origin”:“VIDP”,“destination”:“VAPO”,“timeout”:“0”,“timestamp”:1550086180,“departureTime”:1550082078,“firstPositionTime”:1550082046,“arrivalTime”:0,“longitude”:73.79033,“latitude”:21.46249,“lowLongitude”:73.78326,“lowLatitude”:21.46249,“highLongitude”:77.13339,“highLatitude”:28.54460,“groundspeed”:478,“altitude”:361,“heading”:178,“altitudeStatus”:“”,“updateType”:“A”,“altitudeChange”:“C”,“waypoints”:“”}]}}

How can I get data using a tail number?

2

Please use the operator ident_or_reg instead of ident if you wish to search by tail number for aircraft operating under an ident that isn’t their tail number (most commercial flights).

3

Thanks for the reply.

How do I get a tail number back in the result set? Our systems rely heavily on the tail number and it is not part of the attributes returned by this endpoint.