Is it possible to hide the RootViewController of a SplitView iPad app in landscape mode?

I have an iPad app that uses the RootViewController/DetailViewController pattern like most iPad apps. As usual, in landscape mode my RootViewController is "docked" to the left side of the screen, and the DetailViewController fills up the remainder of the screen.

What I would like to do is hide the RootViewController and allow the detail view to fill up the entire screen even in landscape mode. Is this possible?

I tried calling dismissPopoverAnimated, but this doesn开发者_StackOverflow中文版't seem to have any effect in landscape mode.

since u have tagged ios4, I would like to say that that option has been disabled in ios 4.. it was possible in ios 3 but I am not able to find out how...