Life After The Military
Bombdoctor, go for it mate, I was in your situation not so long ago having completed 22 years in the RN as an aircraft technician, I used my gratuity to chase the dream much to my wifes dismay.
I am now nearing the end of my training and will soon be looking for jobs, absolutely kick the backside out of resettlement grants and ELC grants wherever you can during training. After spending a full career in the military sitting on top of something that is designed to go bang in the biggest fashion you have definitely earned whatever contribution you can get towards flying training.
As other people have mentioned just remain realistic you may well not end up in the left hand seat of a long haul 747 or A380 but theres no reason that you cannot have a full and enjoyable 2nd career. Your technical training within ordnance disposal may not be appropriate to flying an aircraft but you will have a shed load of transferrable skills that employers will recognise, just remember that despite this there are no guarantees and no-one owes any of us a living.
Sincere best wishes in whatever you decide to do in the future.