Rudderrat,
I know your reputation and expertise. Your explanation, although not logical as you said, is acceptable.
Yet I cannot imagine the designers at Airbus would provide Slat/Flap settings or positions that could not be encountered. That does not make sense at all. I know you mentionned to forget any logic, but it is ingrained in aviators to make sense of what they see.
If it is actually the case as you mentioned, why not write down procedures for one wheel spinning backwards after rollout, or flying an ILS inverted?
Maybe I am just naive (and I will admit I have been on more than one occasion), but if your explanation about the slat position holds true, do you not think that someone at Airbus should look into writing down procedures sticking to real life?
No disrespect, but I don't buy the flap handle position thing. Unless it is a gross error from Airbus.
As a logical mind (as you mentioned, although I may not fit the picture here), I expect -demand- to have an explanation or at least a reason for a design, a procedure, or a method of operation. This is why I dug deep into the maintenance manual to try to find an improbable situation whereas slats could be more than 27 degrees. And there is such a scenario. It might be as improbable as winning the lottery, but cannot be ruled out entirely.