INST RATED PVT PLT OF A C172 FAILED TO CLOSE HIS IFR FLT PLAN UPON ARR TO HIS UNCTLED DEST ARPT.

Narrative

I WAS CONDUCTING A SHORT IFR FLT FROM BGR TO EPM. AS I WAS APCHING EPM AND THE COAST; CTR GAVE ME THE NEAREST WX THEY HAD (AT BHB) AND ASKED ME WHAT APCH I WOULD LIKE. LOOKING AT THE COAST FROM 30+ NM AWAY AND 5000 FT; I SAW WIDESPREAD LOW CLOUDS OR FOG ALONG THE COAST BUT COULD NOT DETERMINE WHETHER IT ENCOMPASSED MY DEST. BASED UPON THE WINDS RPTED AT BHB; CTR CLRED ME FOR THE LNDG RWY 15 APCH; AND A DSCNT; ALSO ASKING ME TO RELAY ANY PIREPS ABOUT THE CURRENT CONDITIONS AT EPM TO ANOTHER SKYHAWK BEHIND ME; ALSO ON THE CTR FREQ. AS I DSNDED BELOW ABOUT 3500 FT OR 4000 FT MSL; I LOST RADIO CONTACT WITH CTR; BUT WAS STILL ABLE TO HEAR THE SKYHAWK BEHIND ME. AS I DSNDED THROUGH ABOUT 3000 FT MSL; I SAW THE FIELD (WHICH WAS FREE OF CLOUDS AND FOG). PREVIOUSLY; WHEN FLYING INTO EPM; CTR HAD ASKED ME TO RELAY MY IFR CANCELLATION THROUGH OTHER ACFT DUE TO LACK OF RADIO COVERAGE. ONCE I HAD THE FIELD IN SIGHT AND HAD DETERMINED THAT THE FIELD WAS VFR; I MADE THE FOLLOWING RADIO COMS (FROM MEMORY; WORDS MAY HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT): ME: CESSNA FLYING TO EASTPORT; THE FIELD LOOKS VFR WITH CLOUDS AND FOG TO THE N; OVER THE CANADIAN BORDER. OTHER CESSNA: THANKS FOR THE PIREP. ME: CESSNA XXX (I USED HIS CALL SIGN -- I DON'T REMEMBER IT) COULD YOU PLEASE RELAY A XMISSION TO CTR FOR ME. OTHER CESSNA: SURE; GO AHEAD. ME: PLEASE RELAY THAT CESSNA HAS THE FIELD IN SIGHT AND WOULD LIKE TO CANCEL IFR AT THIS TIME. OTHER CESSNA: OK; NO PROB. (THIS XMISSION WASN'T VERY CLR ON MY RADIO.) I THEN HEARD A SCRATCHY XMISSION WHICH SOUNDED LIKE 'CANCELLATION RECEIVED; SQUAWK VFR; FREQ CHANGE APPROVED.' ONCE ON THE GND AT EPM; I TRIED TO CONTACT BANGOR RADIO FOR A WX UPDATE ON THE 2 FREQS CTR GAVE ME; BUT COULDN'T GET THROUGH. THE OTHER CESSNA LANDED ABOUT 5 MINS AFTER I DID; AND I LEARNED THAT IT WAS A NEW PLT HAVING ONLY RECENTLY GAINED HIS RATING. I WAS AIRBORNE AGAIN ABOUT 15-20 MINS AFTER LNDG; AND CALLED CTR WHEN CLBING OUT; GETTING CONTACT AT APPROX 3500 FT MSL. I THEN FOUND OUT THAT CTR HAD NEVER RECEIVED MY CANCELLATION AND BANGOR RADIO HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR ME; INCLUDING CALLING THE FBO AT EPM (WHICH WAS; AND USUALLY IS; UNATTENDED). NO OTHER MENTION OF THE OCCURRENCE WAS MADE. WHEN ON THE GND AT EPM; I SHOULD HAVE FOUND A PHONE AND CALLED FLT SVC TO VERIFY IFR CANCELLATION AND POSSIBLY CHK WX.