Thanks for that lads. I wonder shall I try the disconnection in the sim tomorrow with the instructor who told me it was not possible ? Better not though, cant envisage it going down to well ! Nice to know that it is possible but worrying that the instructor did not considering he was a former A320 captain and now a A340 captain. Maybe he was thinking of the A340, does anybody know if this is common to all airbus aircraft as I would dare not accuse him of being wrong considering the wealth of knowledge and experience which he has compared to myself.