SearchController in navigationItem with section index containing magnifying glass

Hi all,

I've a UITableViewController wich display a search bar by assigning a search controller to it's navigationItem.searchController
property.
It also displays a section index with UITableView.indexSearchas first element.
Is there any way to force the navigation bar to show the search bar, when the corresponding section index is tapped.
In tableView:(UITableView *)tableView sectionForSectionIndexTitle:(NSString *)title atIndex:(NSInteger)index; I'm only able to return a section index.
navigationItem.hidesSearchBarWhenScrollingis set to true, so even returning 0 only displays the first section. I need to scroll down manually, for the search bar to become visible.

Dirk