Actually, other than the nose folding down 180' instead of forward 90' and the use of swing bars instead of the large "gullet", the VF-25 and VF-27's torsos do transform like the VF-19 with the upper torso going over the cockpit area which is now pointing upwards. The SV-51 on the other hand, while using similar swing bars, has the the main fuselage, cockpit and all, pointing down at an angle.
As for Ranka seeing the cockpit, if it's not a holographic cockpit, then maybe at that point, Grace and co. can tap into the superdimension fold plane that Ranka seems to have access to (same way the queen got through to her in episode 14, same way she got through to Sheryl in episode 25).